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The widespread use of internet on smartphones has significantly changed how we use the Internet, allowing us to enjoy its benefits immediately and easily. However, the immediacy and convenience aspects of smartphones can cause problems related to long-term use and Internet addiction, which can cause users to immerse themselves in the online world until their internet addiction begins to interfere with their normal lives. Such problems have thus become a new challenge in modern society. However, the definition of Internet addiction has not yet been established by public institutions. Therefore, its standards and the effects of long-term Internet use on Internet addiction remain unclear.
Since spending a significant amount of the day on the Internet is a widespread social trend today, political measures should be taken against long-term use. Takeuchi (2014) pointed out that adolescents in the developmental stage cannot control their use of smartphones and that they tend to keep their smartphones with them at all times, even before bathing or going to bed. Using a neuroscience perspective, Jensen and Nutt (2015) stated that, among adolescents, the decision to “do nothing” is slow because their “suppression” of neuronal responses is still weak, and their self-control is not sufficient. The findings of Jensen and Nutt as well as those of Takeuchi show that the Internet can be attractive to adolescents and that they tend to have low self-control with regard to suppressing actions. Higuchi (2018) also reported that the number of outpatients seeking Internet addiction treatment has been increasing in recent years, thus suggesting that it is necessary to address this as an urgent social policy issue.
In such a social situation, some governments and social organizations have attempted to take measures against Internet addiction. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (Japan) has developed an information ethics guidance manual for teachers as a commissioned project under “research and study on enhancement of guidance in response to new issues associated with the progress of computerization.” This guide points out that lifestyle habits are disturbed by prolonged use of the Internet, a factor that depends on the availability of Internet, and it clearly instructs teachers about the importance of setting home rules as a countermeasure against Internet overuse (Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 2020). Moreover, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (2015) released the “Just a Moment! Mobile phone and smartphone newspaper” as educational material. The newspaper's teaching materials state that “it is important to live a regular life with daily prevention, such as creating rules of use.” The Multimedia Promotion Association also offers an e-net caravan for that includes educational courses for schools and educational materials. They appeal for the appropriate use of Internet devices, such as smartphones, so that their use does not affect daily life (for example, inability to wake up on time in the morning because of Internet overuse until midnight). Thus, in Japan, the problem of Internet addiction among the youth has become a social issue, and various awareness-raising education policies have been formulated as countermeasures.
Next, we will focus on policy trends regarding youth protection. In the past, protection policies for children's usage of the Internet in Japan focused on the negative side of Internet use. For example, Kagawa Prefecture's “Internet and Game Addiction Countermeasures Ordinance” presented countermeasures against Internet game addiction; it states that excessive Internet and game usage may cause various disorders. Furthermore, the ordinance text presents countermeasures with strong restrictions such as clearly stating specific numerical targets1.