Japan studies scrapping political fairness clause of broadcast law

March 28, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government is studying the idea of scrapping the broadcast law's Article 4, which demands that broadcasters be "politically fair" and "not distort the facts" in reporting, informed sources said Tuesday.

The move comes as the government is considering integrating regulations for broadcasting and for telecommunications, with a view to encouraging competition among various business operators, according to the sources.

The Regulatory Reform Promotion Council may include the abolition of the political fairness clause, which is currently being studied by a working group of the council, in recommendations that it will submit as early as June.

There are persistent concerns, however, that the elimination of the fairness clause could lead to deteriorations in the quality and credibility of broadcast content.

"We can hardly accept it," said Nippon Television Network Corp. President Yoshio Okubo, appointed the next chairman of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association.

Within the government, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is cautious about scrapping the political fairness clause.

"News reports that are not based on facts could increase," communications minister Seiko Noda has said.

A senior ministry official has warned that the abolition of the fairness clause would be "more harmful than beneficial."

The recommendations are also expected to call for separating broadcasting equipment divisions and program production units, and allowing public broadcaster Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, to begin in earnest to broadcast programs on the Internet simultaneously with television and radio broadcasts. Jiji Press