Japan's parliament on Wednesday passed a bill calling for decency in election campaign posters.
The bill to revise the public offices election law was approved by a majority vote at a plenary meeting of the Upper House. Political parties that supported the bill in the vote included the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, Komeito, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Nippon Ishin no Kai.
The bill cleared the Lower House in early March after the LDP, the CDP and five other parties jointly submitted it to the Diet, the formal name for Japan's parliament.
The legal amendments prescribed by the bill, which is set to be promulgated soon and put into force after that, are expected to be applied to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in June and the Upper House election this summer.
Following the amendments, the law stipulates that degrading content must not be put on campaign posters.
These followed last year's Tokyo gubernatorial election, in which posters depicting an almost naked woman and others intended to advertise a shop offering sex services were put up.
The amendments also spell out that those who put up campaign posters advertising products or services can be fined up to ¥1 million ($6,600).
A supplementary provision in the bill calls for continued discussions and necessary countermeasures in relation to several other matters, such as the spreading of election-related disinformation and misinformation on social media, and running in polls for the purpose of supporting other candidates.
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