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Gov't plans to take steps against 'fake news' by June

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This is comforting. The government informing the public of which news is fake. Ooookkkaaay?

10 ( +12 / -2 )

This won't end well.

Anytime Government gets involved in access to information the result is always less freedom of information.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Japan was ranked the 67-th among the 180 countries in 2018 world press freedom index: https://rsf.org/en/ranking

In Asia,

42 - Taiwan

43 - S. Korea

67 - Japan

70 - Hong Kong

71 - Mongolia

124 - Indonesia

.......

180 - N. Korea

For reference,

45 - United States

I guess the major source of Japanese fake news is the Abe administration itself. Who punishes whom?

9 ( +11 / -2 )

The problem is that most of "Fake News" platforms used by Japanese are foreign owned and operated, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Line, etc.

Hence they remain beyond the control of Japanese government with the single exception of Line, which has servers on Japanese soil. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube will not comply with Japanese government's take down requests due to First Amendment concerns.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I wonder if this includes the omission of certain key facts. In addition to blatant lies and stout denial, a very common technique employed by the Japanese government and media (same thing really) is the omission of key points. Censorship.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

So the Japanese government bureaucrats will decide what is ''fake'' and what isn't? What if they decide what certain accusations against the government are ''fake news''? What if they decide what criticizing the government, or covering certain scandals are ''fake news''?

The main issue of fake news is not false facts, but cherry picked facts. When you cherry pick certain facts, but ignore others, you create distorted and incorrect narrative. That's the problem.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I see how this will work.

Foreign Press: Hey, Japan, there are reports of a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.

Japanese Government: Absolutely untrue, that is fake news.

We all remember what happened with the reporting in 2011. If this were put in place, you can well imagine they would have used it to suppress news of what was happening in Fukushima.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Japan plans to come up with a set of measures aimed at preventing the spread of false online information or "fake news"

Does this mean Abe will stop denying his involvement in the Kake and Moritomo scandals?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@Akie in Japan the minister in charge hasn't even used a computer.. but hey at least in Japan you can go to any website you like.. Unlike some other countries in the region..

We have all seen what is happening the states, anything Trump doesn't like instantly declares "fake news" and won't let up even when well debunked.

Then we do have the sponsored attacks on democracy by other nations..

Its a tough problem but it has an easy answer, knowledge, education, getting rid of this anti-intellectual movement, a healthy amount skepticism and the ability to admit you are wrong when there is new evidence.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Guess that means no more data releases from the government.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Can this not be possibly used to censor information that the government doesn't like? That the government does not want people to see?

This causes concerns.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Does this include all the fake news issued by the government?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This is outright scary! The government already tamper with figures and suppress information more than enough via the suspension of media licenses for new outlets that make the government look bad.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Still, Japanese officials have recognized the need to be careful about not putting freedom of expression at risk in the forthcoming deliberations, and they have no plans to enshrine new measures against disinformation into law.

Indeed. Opinions and falsehoods declared as facts by their authors will still proliferate. I'd like to see politicians (all across the spectrum) be fact-checked whenever giving an address/rally etc. A team of journalists could do it live onscreen (in a window or ticker) whilst the speaker is doing his or her thing.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"U.S. tech giants, including Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, are expected to be the main focus of the measures to be drafted by a communications ministry panel of experts, the sources said."

Where is Japanese govt in the list ?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

The government is seeking to come up with the package around June, which may include a request to major American IT companies and other information providers to voluntarily formulate a code of conduct

So let me get this straight, Japan is asking America, a country known for fake news, to help them crack down on fake news? I ain't no trump supporter, but America has a lot of fake news outlets. So this kinda makes no sense.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

There is no way to stop “fake news” without infringing on freedom of speech.

Instead, a committee of independent journalists and researchers could be assembled to verify news reports and certify “true news.”

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Fake news these days is more about omissions and choosing to not report things then pretend it’s not an issue because “no one is reporting this.”

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Does this include all the fake news issued by the government?

Of course not Kitty, the government does absolutely no wrong.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Thank SJ. I am constantly pointing that out. Most people seem eagerly oblivious to Japan's low ranking of freedom.

Fighting against fake news is great and all, but what about all the half-truths and misleading news fed to us by the government. Like 99% conviction rate. Do you really expect us to believe the have the best police in the entire world in the history of policing? Or how on one hand you brag about the super low unemployment rate but completely neglect to mention the UNDER-employment rate or how the only reason most people can live on less than livable wages is they are stacked 8 people to home so they all have to cover costs and run up massive dept (the highest privately held level of dept in the world). Personally I would rather transparency in Japan's news than fighting against fake news. Intelligent people can look at a news source, can judge for themselves what is fake or not. But if you keep facts a secret... then whats the point of half thruths. Its worse than fake news.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Agree with all of the posters above about the news in general.

The only fake information I would like the Japanese government to be wary of is stuff posted by attention-seekers, fantasists, and scammers after natural disasters. There have been already been numerous incidents of false information spreading on Twitter and the like. It is bad enough to be a victim of a disaster without hearing "this will bankrupt xxxx insurance!" and other sensationalist gossip.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I have a great idea. How about we start a profession called "journalism?" These journalists will attend journalist schools where they learn how to present the news in an objective and unbiased manner, with all sides being presented. I am sure people would flock to such reports, with the more balanced and accurate media eventually getting more attention than the rest. That should work out, eh?

Or, we could just accept that they are all biased reports, that we ourselves are biased, and that we all consume information that feeds our own personal biases. A little self-awareness can go a long way.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Part of the problem is that so many people don't care about the truth anymore, they only care on whether or not their team can score some points.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The list of fake news issued from the government itself (sorry the LDP regime) far outweighs any other fake news. Now the minister who is in charge, has admitted he has absolutely no idea about computers is going to draft a law. And that's a fact, not fake news yet? At least and only as a grasp at a positive these politicians are somewhat balanced being incontenant at both ends of their bodies.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Is there any less restrictive way this can be accomplished? It's a tough one.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Japan plans to come up with a set of measures aimed at preventing the spread of false online information or "fake news" particularly at times of elections and disasters, government sources said Monday.

In Japan there are only few major news outlet and all of them almost have similar angle and content when reporting. Only very few small news outlet try to cover from different angle and content.

What will happen to these small one after "fake news" policy being enforced? Not to mention citizen journalist that their content might have very opposite view to major news outlet.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Just what is "incorrect" information ? A pretty subjective and worrying statement. Perhaps something simply got lost in translation on the JT press ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Chip StarToday  06:49 am JST

Is there any less restrictive way this can be accomplished? It's a tough one.

Ban Facebook. viola

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

There is nothing odd about the Japanese government looking to Facebook or Google. European governments do the same thing.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-tech-fakenews/facebook-google-to-tackle-spread-of-fake-news-advisors-want-more-idUSKCN1M61AG

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-25/google-facebook-and-twitter-agree-to-fight-fake-news-in-eu

If anything, the Japanese government seems to be following the lead of the European Union.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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