10. Women and the media

(1) Supporting media efforts to adopt expressions that respect the human rights of women

1)

Promoting measures to prevent involuntary exposure to expressions of sex and violence
Because expressions of sex and violence can seriously harm the healthy mental and physical growth of adolescents, 46 prefectures have enacted the Youth Protection Ordinance which designate publications and video that contain expressions of sex and violence as harmful, the sales of which are punishable under the law.
The Japanese Government and local public organizations with the cooperation of local communities, have been requesting voluntary restriction on the part of publishers and sales industries as to the way the publications are displayed.
Legal action is being taken against businesses that do not comply with the ordinance.
To further strengthenthese measures, the actual situation and its impact on youth, as well as trends in other countries are being studied.

Furthermore, the Study Group for Research on Young people and Broadcasting which had conducted deliberations from May to December,1998, presented a report that made such propositions as enhancement of broadcast programs for young people, improvement of media literacy, promotion of research on young people and broadcasting, consideration of broadcast time and improvement in provision system of program information.
In response, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and broadcasters jointly established an experts group to work out the details of each proposition.
Deliberations are currently being proceeded with the aim of concluding by this June.

2)

Studying the establishment of regulation on information on the Internet and other new media
The police are tightening enforcement of the current Penal Code 175 to clamp down on obscene information and commercialization of sex on the Internet and other new media.
With the amendment of the Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business in l998, image transmitting type sex-related amusement special business (that exhibits scenes stimulating sexual interest by Internet etc. ) as sex-selling businesses are legally obligated to submit prior notification to the Public Safety Commission.
Distribution of such images to juveniles 18 years old or younger is strictly prohibited.
Also a new provision that mandates actions to be taken by Internet services providers when pornographic images are stored on the server computer were newly added.

The National Police Agency's investigative committee released a report titled "Results of investigations conducted on the network environment which is harmful for juveniles" in October, l998, which reported on comprehensive measures that should be taken to protect juveniles from harmful information distributed over the Internet and other networks.

The Panel on Audience and Broadcasting in the Multichannel Era which had conducted deliberations from September, 1995 to December, 1996 presented a report which cited the benefits of using a parent control mechanism ( parental lock function ) for automatically filtering the distribution of television programs that are harmful to young people.

CS digital broadcasters whose services were launched in June l996 have voluntarily incorporated this parental lock mechanism service, and as of February l999, 17 such broadcasting companies are offering this service.

The CS digital broadcasters that distribute pornographic programs have voluntarily established guidelines on ethical standards, and formed the CS Broadcasters Pornographic Program Ethics Committee in September l996 to ensure that ethical and other standards are observed.

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, a workshop on new rules for regulating information distribution on the Internet was held, and a report titled "the Rules for the Flow of Information on the Internet" was announced in December, l997.
The report recommends that rules be set to restrict the distribution of illegal and harmful information on the Internet, including the application of existing laws to restrict distribution of illegal information on the Internet. The report also calls upon Internet service providers to exercise voluntary restraint. In response to the recommendations, in February l998, the Telecom Service Association which is comprised of Internet service providers and other telecommunication carriers announced the "Guideline for codes of practice for Internet Service Providers", with the support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication.

The Electronic Network Consortium, which is affiliated with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, developed guidelines in February, l996 regarding the ethical use of electronic networks.
The guidelines include "Ethical standards for operating an electronic network" and "A compendium of rules and manners to be observed when using personal communication networks."
Currently, the guidelines are being revised in response to the explosive growth of the Internet.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry is supporting the voluntary efforts of the private sector as well.

(2) Promoting gender-free expressions in official releases and publications of official organizations.

The Plan for Gender Equality 2000 spells out the need to formulate a guideline for promoting gender-free expressions in official releases and publications of public organizations for the perspective of gender equality.
Guidelines have already been formulated by some local public organizations.