:sigh:
Once again, people are getting their panties in a bunch over a phantom "problem." And, no, I'm not talking about politicians like the New Komeito Party who are trying to change laws; I'm talking about Sankaku Complex and those of you who reacted to their blog entry as if Armageddon is upon us.
Points:
1) This is the "News" section; not a "Commentary" section
2) Sankaku Complex's rant is
commentary that makes no pretense of neutrality, and contains virtually (no pun intended) no
news. (Still, if you are going to reproduce it verbatim,
a link would be nice, since at least the original rant includes links to actual sources.)
3) If you want a neutral (and surprisingly thorough) news summary of the current situation, put your torch and pitchfork down, take a deep breath, and read
this. See? The world is not ending.
4) Key quote No. 1: "The LDP's [proposed] bill would oblige the government to conduct research on possible causal links between infringement of children's rights and manga, animation and computer graphics. The intention would be that such links would lead to regulation of those products." (Since such causal links are impossible to prove, that's a really big loophole.)
5) Key quote No. 2: "The DPJ's bill targets only products depicting live action. An official at the DPJ policy research council said the purpose of the child pornography law is to protect children from sexual abuse, and thus it should not regulate manga, anime or video games. However, the DPJ has deep concerns about sexual violence in those products and is weighing how to regulate it, he added." Surprise! A major political party (sort of) stands up for freedom of expression.
6) The New Komeito Party is the weaker member of the ruling coalition; they are Robin to the LDP's Batman. Robin can rant all he likes, but it's Batman who calls the shots. In reality, nobody reads the New Komeito Party's press releases except members: they preach to the choir.
This thread (and many others like it) is a textbook example of a scary Internet echo chamber. Someone writes an opinion, which may include distortions or statements taken out of context; others cite that opinion as if it (along with the distortions) are "facts"; people freak out and reach for the torches and pitchforks; the whole thing snowballs.
Maybe the international otaku community needs its own version of
FactCheck.org. :goodboy: