Before the Night Lights Fall Voices on the Anti-Spy Act and the Boundary between Surveillance and Freedom, Fall 2024

Before the Night Lights Fall Voices on the Anti-Spy Act and the Boundary between Surveillance and Freedom, Fall 2024
In the fall, when the debate over the Spy Prevention Act was heightened, a sense of urgency was quietly in the air at the rally, as if the law would "lead to a society of dark surveillance. Osamu Aoki traced the history of Japan's postwar intelligence agencies, pointing out the possibility that the blade of information held by the state could turn toward civil liberties, and introduced Masaharu Goto's warning that "intelligence agencies are a double-edged sword. LaSalle Ishii expressed concern about a future in which news gathering, research, and even civic movements would be considered potentially dangerous activities if the law is passed in an ambiguous manner. He emphasized the recognition that in this age of fading memories of the Security Law, the loss of freedom will not come suddenly, but as a quietly progressive erosion that goes unnoticed. This discussion is also connected to the Specified Secret Protection Law and active cyber defense, and to the current situation i
n which Japan's secrecy protection system is being internationally recognized as a danger of increased surveillance and concentration of power. As with the Chilling Effect in Europe and whistleblower penalties in the U.S., the question of how to strike a balance between freedom and security is a challenge that faces Japan as well. The quiet chirping of warnings reiterates the fact that without the will to protect freedom, societies will collapse without a sound.