Online Election Ads: JIP Blunder Cannot Be Excused As Mere Mistake

Editorial

14:00 JST, March 24, 2026

It has been reported that the Japan Innovation Party used videos of election speeches by party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura and others as paid ads on social media during the recent House of Representatives election campaign.

The JIP has reported the matter to the police, citing a potential violation of the Public Offices Election Law, which prohibits online ads that urge people to vote. The party conducted an investigation following external reports. This is a blunder that could undermine the fairness of the election.

Under the law, political parties are not prohibited from running online ads during an election campaigning period, provided the content only conveys the party’s policies.

However, the law prohibits party names and candidate names from being displayed online as campaign ads. The aim is to prevent disparities in the volume of campaign information disseminated based on the financial resources of a party or candidate.

The system was established in 2013, when online campaigning was first permitted. At that time, the JIP and other parties submitted a bill to revise the law, which was passed unanimously.

JIP Secretary General Hiroshi Nakatsuka explained that “a staff member mistakenly posted the campaign ads online.” However, as a member of the legislature that established these regulations, this cannot be excused as a mere mistake.

The JIP should investigate the circumstances surrounding how the ad was posted and establish a system to ensure compliance with the law. It must also act with the awareness befitting a ruling party.

Meanwhile, from the voters’ perspective, it is certainly true that it can be difficult to understand exactly what is permitted and what is prohibited regarding political ads and posts during the campaigning period.

In fact, during the lower house election campaign, various parties distributed a wide range of video ads. For example, a Liberal Democratic Party ad featuring Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stating, “The future should be opened with our own hands,” reportedly garnered over 150 million views.

Even if an ad does not explicitly tell people to vote, if it features such people as party leaders advocating policies, it cannot be denied that it has the potential to influence voting behavior.

On social media, ads appear interspersed among the constant stream of videos and other posts, making it difficult in some cases to distinguish between what is an ad and what is a regular post.

Furthermore, due to certain algorithms, some posts are displayed more than others depending on how many times they have been viewed. Voters can be misled if it remains unclear whether a video promoting a political party’s policies is being displayed because it is an ad or because it has been viewed many times.

The law allows parties to distribute leaflets during the campaigning period for a lower house election with strict limits on the number of leaflets. However, parties are prohibited from distributing leaflets about their political activities during the campaigning period.

Given the growing influence of online ads, quantitative restrictions and other measures, similar to those for in-person campaigning, should be considered for online ads.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 24, 2026)