Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications discusses cutting off communications as part of cyber defense, holds meeting to organize legal arrangements

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on the 10th that it will establish a new expert meeting to discuss ways to prevent communications access in order to prevent the misuse of personal information leaked through cyberattacks. The legal issues surrounding ``blocking,'' in which telecommunications carriers forcibly cut off communications to problematic sites, will be sorted out, and an interim report will be prepared early next year.

The emergency measures package compiled by the government on the 6th includes ``a review of measures to prevent access by telecommunications carriers.'' The conference was based on this, and was composed mainly of legal experts in areas such as the Constitution and criminal law. We will discuss how the implementation of access suppression by telecommunications carriers, including blocking, is positioned legally.

Regarding the issue of unauthorized access to GMO Internet Group, personal information was published on the website of a person believed to be an attacker, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications requested telecommunications carriers to block the website. On the other hand, blocking relies on knowing the connection destinations of all users, which may violate the ``secrecy of communications'' guaranteed by the Constitution, and the legal basis is unclear. NTT President Akira Shimada said at a press conference on the 4th that in order to implement blocking, ``It is important to develop guidelines and ultimately enact legislation.''