In a case in which Liberal Democratic Party member Mizuami Sugita of the House of Representatives repeatedly clicked "like" on a tweet that was extremely defamatory of an individual, the Supreme Court ruled on the lawmaker's appeal by the 9th. The second instance judgment has been finalized, dismissing the case and ordering Rep. Sugita to pay compensation.
The person who filed the lawsuit was journalist Shiori Ito, who requested compensation from House of Representatives member Mizume Sugita, claiming that she had been repeatedly liked and spread by her followers on a tweet that was extremely defamatory of her, damaging her reputation. I was there.
The Tokyo District Court, which held the first trial, dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the act of clicking "like" was "an extremely abstract act of expression with a variety of meanings, and is not illegal unless there are special circumstances." Ta.
On the other hand, the Tokyo High Court, which held the second trial, said, ``Generally, 'likes' only indicate favorable or positive feelings toward the target tweet, but Rep. Sugita, who had repeatedly criticized Ms. Ito, "It is recognized that the 'like' was done with the intention of harming the person. It was done on the account of a member of the Diet who has 110,000 followers, so the impact is significant." and ordered compensation of 550,000 yen.
Rep. Sugita had filed an appeal against this, but the Supreme Court's First Petty Bench Presiding Judge Ryosuke Yasunami decided to dismiss the appeal by the 9th, confirming Rep. Sugita's defeat.