Anime and Manga Excluded from Cybercrimes at the UN

Politician Taro Yamada, who fights for freedom of expression for manga and novel authors, achieved an apparent victory during a visit to a UN commission where they obviously discussed digital criminal content.

Anime and Manga Excluded from Cybercrimes at the UN

On August 8, the draft of a new treaty on cybercrimes was decided in an ad hoc UN commission. An important point of the treaty is that the clause in article 14, paragraph 3, which limited the scope of the treaty to content involving real people, was maintained, which means that fictional content (such as anime, manga and games) will not be affected by this treaty.

The vote was close, with 51 votes in favor of excluding the clause and 94 against. Despite this, there is still a risk that Japan, when ratifying the treaty and adjusting its domestic legislation, will include restrictions on fictional content, which will continue to be a concern.

Since 2021, tough negotiations led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been underway to protect freedom of expression. On August 6, before the vote, final meetings were held at the UN headquarters in New York to defend this freedom. Japan played a central role in the negotiations, contributing to several changes to the text of the treaty.

The treaty was initially proposed by Russia in late 2019 and has raised serious concerns about the possibility of over-regulation of fictional content such as images, texts and audio, threatening freedom of expression. China, in particular, has been pushing for stricter regulation, especially targeting Japan’s manga, anime and game industries.

Although the text of the treaty has been finalized, the fight is not over. There is a risk that during ratification in Japan and the adaptation of domestic laws, pro-censorship forces will seize the opportunity to impose restrictions. So the next battle will be in Japan.

Yamada Taro visits VISA