#MeToo movement journalist sues lawmaker for liking defaming tweets

Aug 21, 2020 | News On Japan

Aug 21, 2020 (Kyodo) - Shiori Ito, a journalist and symbol of Japan's #MeToo movement, sued ruling party member Mio Sugita for damages on Thursday for allegedly clicking the "like" icon on several tweets she says defamed her.

In a suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Ito is seeking 2.2 million yen ($21,000) in damages from Sugita for liking tweets by other people. The lawmaker, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, allegedly criticized Ito on Twitter and on a BBC program between June and July 2018, according to the complaint.

In a country where few sexual assault victims come forward, Ito, 31, has become a symbol of Japan's movement against sexual abuse after going public with a rape accusation against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former Washington bureau chief of Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.

The district court last December ordered Yamaguchi, a biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to pay 3.3 million yen in damages to Ito, recognizing he "had sexual intercourse without the consent of Ito, who was in a state of intoxication and unconscious."

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Ito's lawyer said that liking the tweets is the equivalent of "group bullying," adding Sugita must be responsible for her remarks even if it is in cyberspace.

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