"five criminal cases in japan, three were committed by chinese people", this rumor went viral...
2024-10-06
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"three out of every five criminal crimes in japan are committed by chinese. do you think chinese people should be driven back to the country?" after the attack on a japanese boy in china last month, this malicious rumor spread on the x platform kailai, with nearly 700,000 views. in fact, japanese police data from the past ten years show that chinese account for no more than 1.4% of the cases or the number of people involved.
regarding this phenomenon of spreading rumors, the hong kong english-language media "south china morning post" issued an article on october 5 pointing out that while social media is becoming increasingly popular, it has also become a breeding ground for extremist sentiments. some analysts emphasized that it is "deeply worrying" that so many users share false information. social media is the root of many problems in modern society, because they are often prone to seeing the same views as themselves and lack empathy for those with different positions. this situation also exists in the propaganda of the us election and the russia-ukraine conflict. analysts said that hatred towards people with different positions is undoubtedly terrible, but extreme emotions cannot represent the position of the majority of people.
shops and tourists near sensoji temple in japan in august 2023. kyodo news
the post mentioned at the beginning of the south china morning post was published by an x platform account named "mr.486" on september 21, three days after the japanese boy was attacked in shenzhen. the chinese message quickly attracted more than 697,000 views, 4,406 "likes" and was retweeted 701 times.
obviously, the information in the post is completely false.
the article quoted statistics from the japanese national police agency and pointed out that in 2023, the number of criminal cases committed by chinese in japan accounted for only 1.12% of the total, and the number of people involved accounted for 1.14%. data from the past ten years show that regardless of the case or the number of people involved, the proportion of chinese people does not exceed 1.4%. therefore, "mr.486"'s statement that chinese suspects account for three-fifths of japan's criminal cases is not correct.
media and political analysts interviewed by south china morning post's asia this week said it was "deeply worrying" that so many social media users were liking or sharing false information and reflected the growing tension between people in china and japan. this is exacerbated by a lack of trust and rising nationalist sentiments.
regarding the attack on the japanese boy, the spokesperson of the chinese ministry of foreign affairs has previously emphasized that this is an isolated case. similar cases can happen in any country. china expresses regret and heartache over the occurrence of such an unfortunate incident.
on september 23, local time, wang yi, member of the political bureau of the central committee of the communist party of china and minister of foreign affairs, met with japanese foreign minister yoko kamikawa in new york. he emphasized that china will investigate and handle the case of the attack on japanese students in shenzhen in accordance with the law, and will also, as always, protect all people in accordance with the law. japan should treat the safety of foreign citizens in china calmly and rationally and avoid politicization and amplification.
the south china morning post analyzed that poor relations between china and japan are nothing new, but social media has clearly intensified and amplified extreme accusations.
“social media is at the root of many problems in modern society, such as how people in different countries view each other.” izumi tsuji, a professor of cultural sociology at chuo university in japan, said, "both sides may lack empathy for people on the 'other side.' what we call the 'network flood' or 'filter bubble' phenomenon, where in this case, people who use social media tend to see the same opinions as them, which makes it easier for people to believe that their own opinions are correct.”
“when these positions are reinforced, it often results in a lack of empathy for people who don’t share those beliefs.” he added that negative sentiment becomes easier to spread when platforms allow personal identities to be hidden.
yakov zinberg, professor of international relations at kokushikan university in japan, also pointed out that before the emergence of social media, it was difficult for people to vent their anger on a specific topic, and writing letters to the media was often the only channel. even when newspapers published the letters, they rarely sparked widespread outrage.
"what we are seeing now is very destructive." zinberg pointed out that the death of a japanese boy in an attack in shenzhen last month has intensified extremist sentiments in china and japan. "we've seen it in the u.s. elections, we've seen it in the propaganda surrounding the war in russia and ukraine, and i've seen it in my own research on anti-semitism."
"the hatred for people who disagree is horrific," zinberg said.
on the other hand, some japanese media also noticed the chinese people's condolences for the dead japanese boy. for example, the asahi shimbun reported on september 23 how people placed flowers at the crime scene to express their condolences. one mourner told the newspaper: "i would say the average person thinks that an event like this shouldn't happen". someone else said, "as a chinese, i condemn this (the attacker's behavior)."
"we must keep in mind that although we do hear extreme voices, they do not truly represent the ordinary people in china or japan." makoto watanabe, a professor of communication and media at hokkaido bunkyo university in japan, said, "they are just on social media "but the vast majority of people don't share these values or attitudes, which makes me even more optimistic that things will improve."
source | observer network
