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The story
On September 25, the Japan Volleyball Association posted a statement on its official website titled “A Request Regarding Harassment of Players.” The statement calls on fans to understand and be considerate of players as “real people on the other side of the screen” when it comes to abuse via social media, and reveals that some players are experiencing anxiety and fear. The statement appears to have been prompted by a wave of comments about players’ conduct and appearance following a straight-sets loss to host nation China at the Asian Games. Reactions on 5ch were split: some pointed to the heavy burden of filing disclosure requests (to unmask anonymous posters), while others pushed back, arguing the association was “trying to silence criticism by calling it harassment” — dividing opinion over where criticism ends and abuse begins.
On the 25th, the Japan Volleyball Association (a public interest incorporated foundation) updated its official website with a statement titled “A Request Regarding Harassment of Players,” calling on fans to show understanding and consideration regarding online harassment directed at players.
The association opened with thanks: “The warm support you all send is a huge source of strength for the players as they stand on the court and compete.” It went on to explain, “Every day, the players build up practice and preparation for each and every moment of the match.
In a match, sometimes they’re able to play exactly as they envisioned, and sometimes the results just don’t come. Even so, the players stand on the court carrying the feelings of their teammates, staff, and everyone cheering for them,” the statement explained.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
If you've got a problem with accounts posting that kind of harassment, take it up directly with the social media platforms that let them run wild.
That's a warning aimed at individuals on top of addressing it directly.
No matter how much you complain to the platform itself, you might get the same kind of treatment old-school 2channel [the original forum 5ch evolved from] used to dish out, and that's unbearable.
Even though filing disclosure requests (to unmask anonymous posters) has gotten easier, it's still a ton of effort.
And even when you're going to pursue legal action, if you don't put out a warning like this first, the other side can seize on that and fly off the handle.
Laws around online abuse still haven't caught up, which is why all these problems keep boiling over lately.
◯ Was putting on lip balm mid-match
Poor thing (sarcasm)
Other sports don't have players putting on lip balm mid-match.
Earrings are banned too, or taped down so they don't fall off or snag on anything.
More like treating an injury than a beauty thing, no?
If she weren't blonde, this would've just fizzled out as nitpicking.
Re: #29
But she went out of her way to pull out a mirror to apply it.
Still, just tough it out during the match.
Hitoshi Matsumoto demands more hunger from 'Zac Japan' [the men's soccer team under coach Zaccheroni]! "How about we all get buzz cuts?"
Comedy duo Downtown's Hitoshi Matsumoto, on the talk show "Wide Na Show" (Fuji TV) airing on the 29th,
laid out his own take on Japan's national soccer team after their group-stage exit at the Brazil World Cup, saying they lacked hunger.
Matsumoto argued, "They need to build up more hunger," adding, "How about we drop the sponsors, the commercials, the fancy outfits for once,
and everyone gets a buzz cut and plays in a green jersey with white, with a number sewn on by their mom…" — arguing they should go back to basics.
it'd hit these keyboard warriors hard and leave them riddled with holes.
Soccer fans say it to players' faces in real life too — that's what real fans do, surrounding the team bus and shouting abuse.
Actually there are more people arguing the opposite.
That's because Shunichi Kawai [former volleyball star turned TV commentator] was just that good.
you guys are way too soft.
The J.League's always making public statements about their feelings too, though.
it's the sheer nastiness of it that's sick.
I'm the mentally-unstable type myself (menhera), so I know plenty of people like that, but the ones who actually post this kind of harassment are a tiny minority.
If you're weak but still dress yourself up, people are going to talk.
Brings back memories of Neymar mocking Japan's national soccer team, saying "Isn't there something you should be doing before worrying about your hairstyle?"
It's a tiny minority of those types who post the most.
That's the "noisy minority" for you —
they never get tired of keeping it up.
Yeah, I know that.
They stick around for years — not just one or two, but double-digit years like it's nothing… at first we try to communicate with them too.
Then you get worn down thinking "huh, I guess some people's minds just work differently 🥲," and move on to the next stage…
There's no correlation between being a menhera and being someone who posts harassment.
Nobody can see your supposedly burning desire to get a job either.
Background and Key Points of Debate
When it comes to online harassment, filing a disclosure request to identify anonymous posters is costly and labor-intensive, and legislation hasn’t kept pace. In the thread, alongside voices saying “disclosure is the only way,” there was also an understanding of why fans can’t simply leave it up to platform operators, given how heavy a burden that route is. The statement itself appears to have been prompted by the women’s national volleyball team’s straight-sets loss to host China at the Asian Games, and the thread’s biggest point of contention was where “criticism” crosses over into “harassment.” On the lip balm and earrings worn during the match, opinions split between defending it as protection against dryness and questioning whether players have the luxury to worry about appearance — showing how easily judgments about looks and conduct get tangled up with discussion of the game itself. The conversation also touched on how the women’s team has overtaken the men’s team in prominence in recent years, and comparisons with the criticism culture around other sports like soccer, highlighting how hard it is to draw a line between harassment aimed at individual players and blunt criticism of the sport as a whole.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Asian Games] Japan Volleyball Association issues statement on player harassment: “A real person on the other side of the screen” — some players feel anxiety and fear.”
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