ニュース 2014/11/06 DPJ presents legislative framework to combat hate speech at meeting of opposition policy research chiefs On November 6, Policy Research Committee Chairs and equivalents from the eight opposition parties met in the Diet. DPJ Deputy Policy Research Committee Chair Akira Nagatsuma deputized for Policy Research Committee Chair Tetsuro Fukuyama, who had travelled to South Korea on party business. The DPJ presented a framework of legislative measures to combat hate speech: “Bill for Measures to Eliminate Discrimination on the Basis of Race and Related Reasons” (Tentative Translation) to the other opposition parties and asked for their cooperation. The DPJ’s proposed legislative framework was approved by the party’s Next Cabinet on November 4, and includes the following measures, as described by Fukuyama in a press conference held that same day: (1) to prohibit unjust racial and other discriminatory acts (no specific penal provisions), (2) to oblige central and local governments to 　formulate and execute measures to prevent racial and related discrimination, and (3) to establish, within the Cabinet Office, a panel to prevent racial and other discrimination, which will investigate the degree to which racial and other discriminatory acts are currently an issue in Japanese society. The panel’s reports and recommendations will then be issued to the heads of the various administrative bodies by the Prime Minister or other appropriate authority.