Geo Focus: Asia , Geo-Specific , Government

Japan Delays Cyber Bill After Liberal Democratic Party Loss

Following a major defeat in the October general elections, the Liberal Democratic Party is struggling to muster enough votes in the Parliament to pass a cybersecurity bill to improve its cyber defense program.

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The cybersecurity legislation, set to be introduced before the end of the year, aims to formalize the government's active cyber defense program to enhance its preparedness against cybersecurity threats. The prime minister's office in June convened a 17-member expert panel to discuss ways to realize its active cyber defense program and achieve enhanced capabilities in cybersecurity.

Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had asked then defense minister Taro Kono to "take the outcome of this panel into account to formulate related bills as early as possible while working with the relevant ministers."

In May, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa also said the Cabinet Secretariat was leading an all-of-government effort to introduce a cybersecurity bill to formalize its active cyber defense plans.

"In view of the severe cyberspace situation in recent years, there is a possibility of serious cyberattacks occurring that may cause national security concerns to the government agencies and critical infrastructures," Kimikawa said. "Under the leadership of the Cabinet Secretariat, the entire government is accelerating discussions to present proposal legislation as early as possible for realizing active cyber defense. MOFA has been actively involved in this process."

But the government's much-anticipated plan hit a major hurdle after the general elections in October when the Liberal Democratic Party failed to secure a majority in the lower house for the first time in 15 years.

According to an analysis by International Institute for Strategic Studies' Japan Chair Robert Ward, the electoral setback presents a severe challenge to the government in maintaining power and implementing policy.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's tenure also remains uncertain. On Nov. 11, both houses of Parliament will nominate the next prime minister. "Noda Yoshihiko, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which gained 50 seats in the election, will probably stand against Ishiba for the nomination," Ward predicted.

According to leading Japanese news publications, the sudden chain of events has made it nearly impossible for the ruling coalition to introduce active cyber defense legislation. A major factor behind the decision is the ruling coalition's inability to muster sufficient support for legislation in the lower house.

The minority coalition's primary concern is to garner enough support from opposition parties to pass the supplementary budget for fiscal 2024. The budget, drawn up by the Shigeru administration before the general election, seeks additional funds to set up an economic support package to cushion rising cost-of-living costs.

The government may also struggle to pass cybersecurity legislation as it gives the government enhanced surveillance powers that could affect citizens' data privacy rights.

The Liberal Democratic Party's cyber defense proposal would give the government powers to obtain communications metadata from telecommunications providers to detect signs of cyberthreats and take pre-emptive measures wherever possible.

Under these powers, telecom providers could be forced to share the date and time of communications, IP addresses and other metadata except for email contents with government agencies.

The government in a foreign policy document said that as part of its active cyber defense strategy, it will also set up an agency "that will comprehensively coordinate policies in the field of cybersecurity, in a centralized manner."

"Japan will improve coordination with other policies that contribute to the enhancement of cybersecurity, such as economic security and the enhancement of technical capabilities related to national security, and continue to work for the enhancement of information gathering and analysis, attribution and its public announcement, as well as formulation of international frameworks and rules in a coordinated manner with its ally, like-minded countries and others," the document said.