Possession of child pornography still legal in Japan :-(

Sweden was quite slow in making the possession of child pornography illegal, I think it was not until 1971, hence I was amazed to find out today that in Japan it is still NOT illegal. To go further the government is actually blocking efforts to make it illegal! They say that to make it illegal conflicts with the ‘freedom of expression’!

What about the children’s right for ‘freedom of expression’. The Japanese National Police Agency said it received 4,486 complaints from the public of child pornography on the internet in 2009 and a record 650 people were charged with offences related to child pornography. Campaigners believe that represents the tip of the iceberg.

I agree with the closing statement of Julian Ryall in Tokyo writing for the Telegraph.co.uk “The only people who will be pleased at the failure to pass this legislation are paedophiles.” Read more here.