After the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister, photos spread quickly on social media. With technology and a globalized world, seconds after the attack, hundreds of people have already watched the videos.
(Read on: They began investigating the case of Tetsuya Yamagami, the suspected murderer of Abe).
Amid the chaos in Japan, a fake news story has surfaced about Hideo Kojima, one of the world’s most successful video game directors. A Twitter user joked that the former prime minister’s killer looked like Kojima.
What started as a joke ended as a nightmare for the Japanese. A French far-right politician named Damien Riot believed the lie and posted a tweet against Kojima on his social media.
The post, which has since been deleted, was a set of photos of the Japanese game maker with the caption, “Far Left Kills.”
Ryo has already apologized for getting caught up in misinformation and uploaded a tweet asking for excuses for his mistake.
“I naively took the joke as information. I didn’t think we could joke about a man’s murder but I was wrong not to review before sharing. My apologies to the fans of #Hideo Kojima and #Metal Gear,” the politician wrote.
The situation did not end there because thousands of people had already read Al-Fransi’s publications and believed what he said. A Greek media outlet adopted Ryo’s words and aired a news bulletin with pictures of Hideo Kojima as Shinzo Abe’s killer.
(We recommend: Japanese police admit flaws in Abe’s security apparatus.)
J’ai naïvement pris une blague pour un information. Verifier Je ne pensais pas qu’on pouvait faire de l’humor sur l’assassinat d’un homme mais j’ai eu tort de ne pas avant de partager.
A month’s excuses for # Hideyokojima et aux fans #metal equipment 🙏🏼 https://t.co/XMSUVY5oGYDamien Rieu July 8, 2022
Hideo Kojima’s reply
Due to the controversy caused by the fake news, the Japanese were forced to issue a statement from account Kojima ProductionsDirector, Animation Studio.
In the document, Kojima denounced the rumors and said he was considering taking legal action over the defamation of his name.
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