世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1][part 2][part 3]

This is a story I saw reported in the English press as merely a snippet of the results of Q6, that 79% of Japanese want internet filtering for children, but that one figure is perhaps one of the more dull numbers to come from this survey from the Cabinet Office Japan on ensuring internet safety.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 25th of November 2007 5,000 people were randomly selected from presumably the voter rolls to take part in the survey. Of the 5,000, 3,006 agreed to complete the survey, conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. The sample was 52.7% female, 8.8% in their twenties, 16.0% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 20.2% in their fifties, 21.2% in their sixties, and 17.7% seventy or older. 26.3% of the sample had children under the age of 18. Of these 790 people, 35.3% were under school age, 45.6% of elementary school age, 28.6% of middle school age, 26.7% of high school age, and 6.5% had already graduated, quit school, or other. Of the parents with school age children, 23.9% gave mobile phones to all their children, 17.0% gave them to some, 58.6% to none, and 0.5% didn’t know.

In part one, Q1 notes that just over two in five are regular internet users. This may cause some of you to dismiss the results, but these non-users may very well have children or grandchildren that may encounter nasty stuff on the internet, so their opinion should not be readily dismissed. In Q2SQ, there is the very Japanese crime of “One-click fraud” – perhaps like Amazon’s One Click Shopping™, you click on a link on a dodgy site and up comes a message telling you you owe them a vast sum of money for membership fees.

Research results

Q1: How frequently do you access the internet, regardless of private or work use, etc, to view web pages, exchange electronic mail, etc? (Sample size=3,006)

Almost every day	27.8%
Several times a week	9.1%
About once a week	3.7%
Once or twice a month	4.0%
Almost never (to SQ)	8.0%
Never used it (to SQ)	47.3%

Q1SQ: Do you want to try using the internet in the future? (Sample size=1,663)

Want to try	12.0%
Perhaps want to try	9.1%
Perhaps don’t plan to	9.1%
Don’t plan to	62.7%
Don’t know	1.2%

Q2: Do you have unease regarding using the internet? (Sample size=3,006)

Am uneasy (to SQ)	19.6%
Perhaps am uneasy (to SQ)	25.8%
Perhaps am not uneasy	11.1%
Am not uneasy	25.2%
Don’t know	18.3%

Q2SQ: What do you feel uneasy about regarding using the internet? (Sample size=1,698, multiple answer)

Personal data leaks due to viruses	66.5%
Illicit access by other people to passwords, etc	52.1%
Incorrect billing, money demands due to accessing web pages (one-click fraud)	50.5%
Data loss due to viruses	47.7%
Password stealing from fake sites (phishing)	32.3%
Internet auction fraud	28.3%
Slander on web pages or bulletin boards, etc	24.5%
Real-life troubles due to internet friends	15.1%
Other	2.3%
Nothing in particular	2.4%

The respondents were shown a card outlining what “deai-kei” sites. The literal translation is meeting-related sites, basically dating sites, but with an undertone of underage encounters. The card also highlighted that in 2006 around 80% of the crime reported that resulted from deai-kei sites involved those under 18 years of age.

Q3: How well do you know deai-kei sites? (Sample size=3,006)

Know a lot about them (to SQ)	15.0%
Know a little about them (to SQ)	32.4%
Just heard the term	39.8%
Don’t know anything about them	12.8%

Q3SQ: Have you ever looked at or used deai-kei sites? (Sample size=1,426)

Never viewed them	79.3%
Viewed them, but not used them	18.2%
Written messages, exchanged mail, etc	2.5%

[part 1][part 2][part 3]