In October, Tatsuya Kato (C) of the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun was charged with criminal defamation for reporting on what exactly Ms. Park was up to during the tragic sinking of the passenger ferry MV Sewol. He has been placed under a travel ban that prevents him leaving South Korea.JUNG YEON-JE/AFP / Getty Images
Whatever one thinks about caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, the massacre at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo certainly focused the world's attention on freedom of speech. But while the world declared "Je suis Charlie," there were several worrying developments in the ability of people to speak freely in Japan and South Korea, Asia's most vibrant and developed democracies.
In the West, and particularly in France, where there is a large disenfranchised population of Muslims of North African descent, the sensational and tragic Paris attacks ignited a fierce debate between absolutists who see offensive speech as a necessary continuation of French tradition and those who believe withering satire is best aimed at those in power.
In democratic Asia, the recent curbs on freedom of speech are more mundane and familiar: These are governments trying to silence things they simply don't want to hear.
Let's start with Japan. In December, a new law designed to stem leaks took effect, prompting street protests and criticism from rights groups. Civil servants or politicians caught giving documents to journalists now face up to 10 years in prison, while journalists (or anyone else encouraging leaks) could also be imprisoned. While some suggest Japan's government could stand to improve its ability to keep at least some things secret, it's clear that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative administration is moving too far in the other direction – discouraging whistleblowers and limiting the ability of journalists to report on political and diplomatic developments.
Equally troubling, though more predictable, was a recent – and quite embarrassing – attempt by the Japanese foreign ministry to rewrite history. A harmless textbook entitled Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past was deemed harmful enough to merit diplomatic attention. Through its New York consulate, Japan's government asked U.S. publisher McGraw-Hill Education to delete a paragraph about the "comfort women" forced to toil in Japanese military brothels during the Second World War.
Japan looks silly enough when it erases history from its own textbooks. McGraw-Hill obviously refused.
In South Korea, where there is normally outrage about Japan trying to airbrush its violent past in Asia, there is an ongoing attempt to airbrush current discussion of President Park Geun-hye, her family and North Korean issues.
Two independent journalists recently faced a trial under South Korea's problematic criminal defamation law – which Human Rights Watch says "focuses solely on whether what was said or written was in the public interest, and not whether it was factually true" – for a podcast discussing a murder investigation involving Ms. Park's brother, Park Ji-man. Reporters Without Borders condemned the trial as a "crude manoeuvre designed to dissuade journalists."
The Asia-Pacific is, admittedly, a dangerous neighbourhood, but none of these moves are genuinely about national security. South Korea recently deported a Korean-American, and arrested a former South Korean politician and advocate for unification, over comments about North Korea. And in October, Tatsuya Kato of the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun was charged with criminal defamation for reporting on what exactly Ms. Park was up to during the tragic sinking of the passenger ferry MV Sewol. He has been placed under a travel ban that prevents him leaving South Korea. In November, aides to Ms. Park filed a complaint of criminal defamation against six journalists for reporting on a government leak.
This is a dispiriting trend in a region where Japan and South Korea should be beacons of liberal democracy – particularly to emerging democracies. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Indonesia's former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tweeted there was a "clash of values" at play, and Western leaders must "sanction" those who engage in blasphemy. He has experience here. Since 2004, Amnesty International says more than 100 people have been convicted under Indonesia's blasphemy laws (one person whistled while praying), proving that whether in Asia or in France – where well over 50 people have recently been arrested for what is regarded as hate speech or defending terrorism – freedom of speech usually ends where a particular government's sensibilities begin.