Japan Govt Unlikely to Submit Cyberdefense Bill This Year
Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)--The government is unlikely to submit legislation for active cyberdefense to the Diet, Japan's parliament, within this year, government sources said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba apparently has no choice but to focus on discussions with opposition parties on economic policies for now, after the ruling camp led by his Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the House of Representatives in last month's election for the lower chamber.
The government had aimed to submit the legislation to an expected special Diet session seen focusing on a possible supplementary budget that is likely to be held later this year.
The legislation would allow the country to introduce an active cyberdefense system enabling pre-emptive measures, such as infiltrating the opponent's server to neutralize it, once signs of cyberattacks on Japan are detected through monitoring of telecommunications networks.
Specifically, the government is considering protecting electricity and gas providers and other infrastructure operators with the active cyberdefense system.
A government panel of experts to discuss necessary legislative issues met three times from June under the administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Ishiba's predecessor, before adopting an interim report in August.
Soon after that, Kishida announced his intention to step down, followed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election in September and the Lower House election in October. The panel therefore has not met since August.
The government is making preparations for introducing the legislation, but a government source said that "it appears difficult to submit the legislation in the current political situation."
"There won't be enough time to discuss the legislation in the extraordinary Diet session," another government source said. "We're working to submit it to next year's ordinary Diet session."
"After receiving a (final) report from the panel of experts, we will decide when to submit the legislation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference Tuesday. "We will further accelerate our consideration so that we can present the legislation as soon as possible."
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