2025 POLLS: Japanese parties Struggling with false info on social media

Efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation are left to parties and social media platform operators after parliamentary discussions on the issue were shelved during this year's ordinary Diet session that ended last month.

A post recently made the rounds on social media, featuring a video falsely claiming that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, "threatened" a newscaster with a warning not to mess with him, during a commercial break on a Nippon Television Network Corp. program on July 1.

Japan Fact-Check Centre, a nonprofit organisation established to fact-check online information, concluded that the post was "false." The video was based on edited footage.

An Upper House incumbent of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan running in the election took to social media to criticise a YouTube video, saying that an artificial intelligence-generated voice resembling the candidate's voice was saying things that were not said.

Parties have each been working on their measures to tackle online false information.

The Democratic Party for the People, another opposition force, has started an initiative to identify posts spreading false information by using AI technology and release content containing the correct information on its website.

Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, has also introduced AI-based fact-checking services.

Posting false information to prevent candidates from winning an election falls under the false statement offence stipulated in the Public Offices Election Law. The crimes of defamation and insults under the Penal Code can apply to cases involving malicious posts.

Ahead of Sunday's election, internal affairs minister Seiichiro Murakami asked social media business operators to take measures against misinformation and disinformation.

But operators may find responding to such information, with fact-checking and deletions of posts, to be an endless task, with social media flooded with huge amounts of information during the election period.

An LDP official said, "We're urging candidates to be on the lookout, but monitoring all social media platforms is an overwhelming task."

After finding the spread of false information during the Hyogo gubernatorial election in November last year to be a serious issue, ruling and opposition parties kicked off talks to strengthen rules and regulations.

In February this year, the LDP proposed a law revision to better clarify the responsibilities of social media businesses. Discussions, however, were shelved during the ordinary Diet session due to concerns over freedom of expression and political activities.

The ruling and opposition sides hope to resume discussions in an extraordinary Diet session expected for autumn.

With some parties relying heavily on the power of social media, opinions differ on the proposed tightening of regulations.

 [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]