Amidst all the talk about how the internet is transforming political campaigning in the USA, with the UK soon to follow, Japan has gone in the opposite direction, preventing any online campaigning during the election campaign for its upper house. It is illegal to create a new webpage, or update an existing webpage, while the election campaign is on!

Heavens, it seems to be even more restrictive on campaigning than the rules for a Lib Dem internal selection contest!

It appears this is more the result of campaigning rules which haven’t been updated since the advent of the internet rather than a deliberate decision to ban it - but it is ironic given how advanced internet campaigning is in Japan. I haven’t heard, for example, of any UK politicians who have yet set up a presence in Second Life (though would be very interested to hear if anyone knows different).

Good luck to Japanese campaigners, who it seems have to campaign not only without the help of the internet, but also under rules which (any Lib Dem campaigners reading this should make sure you are sitting down at this point) only allow you to deliver one leaflet to just 3% of your electorate!