Shiori Ito, a journalist and symbol of Japan's #MeToo movement, sued ruling party member Mio Sugita for damages on Thursday for allegedly clicking the "like" icon on several tweets she says defamed her.
In a suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Ito is seeking 2.2 million yen ($21,000) in damages from Sugita for liking tweets by other people. The lawmaker, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, allegedly criticized Ito on Twitter and on a BBC program between June and July 2018, according to the complaint.
In a country where few sexual assault victims come forward, Ito, 31, has become a symbol of Japan's movement against sexual abuse after going public with a rape accusation against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former Washington bureau chief of Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.
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The district court last December ordered Yamaguchi, a biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to pay 3.3 million yen in damages to Ito, recognizing he "had sexual intercourse without the consent of Ito, who was in a state of intoxication and unconscious."
Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Ito's lawyer said that liking the tweets is the equivalent of "group bullying," adding Sugita must be responsible for her remarks even if it is in cyberspace.
Ito claims the tweets that Sugita liked included a post that says Ito should stop pretending to be a rape victim.
Sugita's office said Thursday it cannot comment on the matter because it has yet to receive the complaint.
Sugita came under criticism two years ago for saying the government should not support sexual-minority couples because they cannot bear offspring and thus are not "productive."
Ito on Thursday also sued a former associate professor of the University of Tokyo, Shohei Osawa, for several tweets she says defamed her.
According to the complaint also filed with the Tokyo District Court, Ito is seeking 1.1 million yen in damages for several posts by Osawa, including one that called Ito an "enemy of men" after her June lawsuit against cartoonist Toshiko Hasumi.
Ito is seeking 5.5 million yen from Hasumi for five posts she made between June 2017 and last December that included an illustration of a woman who appears to be Ito, and 2.2 million yen from a creator and a doctor, both men, who allegedly spread the posts.
