OSAKA -- The operator of YouTube has not responded to a request from the Osaka Municipal Government to delete a video containing hate speech against K Full article

OSAKA -- The operator of YouTube has not responded to a request from the Osaka Municipal Government to delete a video containing hate speech against Korean residents in Japan, the city has announced.

    The video shows an individual making discriminatory remarks against Koreans living in Japan during a street propaganda speech in the city of Osaka in 2016. The city government asked the operator of the video-sharing website to take it down on the grounds that making discriminatory remarks and posting such a video on the internet violates the city's ordinance against hate speech.

    According to the municipal government, the person who made the speech in 2016 used derogatory terms for Korean residents in Japan and repeatedly slandered them, saying that they are neither Japanese nor Korean. During the speech, a banner reading, "Don't be violent, Koreans!" was raised, and these scenes can be seen on YouTube.

    The city government determined that these actions constituted hate speech under the ordinance, and in February this year asked YouTube to remove the video. In April, the city additionally asked the Osaka Legal Affairs Bureau to request that the video be deleted. This is apparently the first time that a video has not been removed in a case handled under an ordinance.

    The ordinance stipulates that the name of the individual and organization whose action has been recognized as hate speech can be made public, but the city has not revealed the information due to fears that the video might spread as a result.

    (Japanese original by Tatsuki Noda, Osaka City News Department)