Japan cybersecurity bill delayed due to post-election uncertainty

The Japanese government is unlikely to submit an envisioned bill to enhance cybersecurity capabilities by year-end, a government source said, as discussions have stalled following last month's change in prime ministers and the ruling party's defeat in the general election.

The bill, initially planned for introduction during an extraordinary Diet session in the fall, aims to introduce "active cyber defense" -- an approach to monitor and detect signs of cyberattacks against the government and critical infrastructure, and, if necessary, disrupt enemy servers with computer viruses to neutralize them.

Among the issues to be addressed are concerns that active cyber defense, which would involve monitoring communications under normal circumstances, may violate the constitutional guarantee of communication secrecy.

Just days after an expert panel compiled an interim report on Aug 6 on ways to improve cybersecurity capabilities, then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would not run in the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race in September, signaling his departure from office.

No further meetings have been held since.

The political landscape has also become uncertain after Shigeru Ishiba, who succeeded Kishida, was confronted with a stinging defeat for the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito in the Oct 27 general election, prompting the bloc to look for opposition partners to secure a majority to pass bills.

"Coordination inside the government has not ended. The earliest possible bill submission is during next year's regular Diet session," a former defense minister said.

A government official said the ruling coalition is now "a minority government with its hands full securing opposition support to pass the supplementary budget for fiscal 2024."

Speculation has also emerged inside the LDP that momentum for implementing the cyber defense initiative is weakening, especially given that former LDP Secretary General Akira Amari, who championed the policy, lost his seat in the House of Representatives election.

The LDP's election campaign platform emphasized the need to raise Japan's cybersecurity capabilities to the level of the United States and major European nations, such as through the introduction of active cyber defense.