Internet-assisted suicide is a legal issue in Japan, too
The story of the Japanese man who was arrested in connection with an Internet-assisted — or possibly more than merely assisted — suicide is turning out to have legal ramifications in that country that strikingly parallel our own efforts here in the US.
According to Japan’s national èªå£²æ–°èž (Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the most widely read newspapers in the world), so-called “suicide Web sites” are a big problem in that country. More than 200 Japanese citizens have ended their lives in Internet-facilitated group suicides since 2004.
Japanese legal expert 岡æ‘ä¹…é“ (Hisamichi OKAMURA) is quoted by the paper as saying, “It’s contrary to society’s common sense to exchange information about how to commit suicide and crime through Web sites. When a situation involves a threat to human lives, it is necessary, in the sense of sending out a warning signal, to make people responsible for sites they set up, including the possibility of bringing criminal charges against them.”
Obviously this whole conversation takes place within the context of Japanese law, but I think there are some larger truths to be considered as well.