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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland sits between FBI Director Christopher Wray and Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general, during a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, in Washington on Sept. 4. Federal prosecutors say Russia secretly paid the American company Tenet Media to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Russia focusing on American social media stars to covertly influence voters

The approach is widely viewed by American security agencies as one of Russia’s preferred tactics this cycle.
Australia has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate social media platforms, with its online safety watchdog bumping heads notably with Elon Musk's X.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 10, 2024

Australia plans age limit to ban children from social media

The minimum age for children to log into sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok is expected to be between 14 and 16 years.
From Malaysia to Brazil, free speech is being pitted against social media regulation.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2024

To hold Big Tech accountable, focus on the harms

The Malaysian case underscores the urgent need for effective safeguards against online abuse, while raising concerns about the potential misuse of regulatory power.
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children's social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2024

Australia's planned social media ban raises teen isolation fears

For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
The tech giants behind Google and Facebook are asking the Australian government to postpone a ban on most forms of social media for children under the age of 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Google and Meta urge Australia to delay bill on social media ban for children

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government wants to pass the bill into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
According to a recent survey by Child Fund Japan, a nonprofit, one in eight minors in Japan have experienced online requests from strangers to meet or for sexual photos. Despite the potential harms of social media, strong regulations are lacking.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Japan doesn't need a social media ban, but it must protect children

Short of stopping minors from using social media, Japan needs to beef up its response to an evermore perilous online environment. One that adults often struggle to grasp.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 29, 2024

Australia passes social media ban for children under 16

The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
From late 2025, platforms including Meta's Instagram, Elon Musk's X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16 or face fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million).
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024

Australia looks for ways to enforce its teen social media ban

From late 2025, social media platforms including Instagram, X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16.
Students look at their phones in Melbourne on Thursday as Australia looks to ban children under 16 from social media.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024

What countries do to regulate children's social media access

Here is what Australia, European countries, and tech companies have been doing to regulate children's access to social media.
Political funds reports have shown that Japanese political parties and other lawmakers were keen to utilize social media and the internet for their political activities last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

Social media use rising among politicians: funds reports

Political parties see smartphones and online messaging as a vital way of reaching voters and affecting their voting behavior.
Christians take selfies after a Christmas Eve Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that struck the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 25, 2024

Blogs to Bluesky: Social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami

In two decades, the online social media landscape has experienced a vast change, allowing information — as well as rumor and misinformation — to flow in real time.
Dodgers announcers Stephen Nelson and Jessica Mendoza pose with Ichiro Suzuki before a game against the Mariners in Seattle in 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 27, 2024

Dodgers voice Stephen Nelson paves way for Japanese Americans in media

Nelson strongly believes representation matters in media and is aware that he might be helping inspire the next generation of Asian Americans in sports media.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2024

Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

Trump’s return to the White House is expected to widen the free speech divide that has long existed between the United States and Europe.
Voters take pictures and videos of a candidate campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in Tokyo's Chuo Ward in June.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2025

Japanese political parties struggling to use social media effectively

Social media proved to be a powerful campaign tool in 2024 elections, shocking political parties that had stuck to old-fashioned campaigns.
Tomin First no Kai adviser Hirotada Ototake speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

Tomin First adviser Hirotada Ototake keen to use social media

"Through social media outreach, we want to become an option for unaffiliated voters who have not decided for whom to vote" in the June 22 race, said Ototake.
Shiori Ito (right) speaks outside the Tokyo District Court in December 2019 after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 29, 2025

Japan #MeToo survivor says media are failing in wake of Fuji TV scandal

Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations.
Members of the popular Japanese pop group SMAP, including scandal-plagued Masahiro Nakai (right), perform in Beijing in September 2011.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2025

A pop-star sex scandal shows the death throes of old Japan

As the leader of a now-defunct boy band SMAP, the 52-year-old Nakai has been a ubiquitous mainstay in Japanese life for decades.
While Fuji Media Holdings is known for its iconic sphere-and-lattice headquarters in the Odaiba district near Tokyo Bay, it also owns office buildings, condominiums, hotels, nursing homes, logistic facilities, resorts and even two aquariums.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025

Fuji Media’s crisis entices investors betting on changes

It may come as a surprise that Fuji Media’s shares have surged 45% this year, making it the best-performing stock on the benchmark Topix index.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally surged in French legislative elections last year. Despite social media being a key megaphone for political campaigning, issues like voter dissatisfaction still play a determinant role in electoral outcomes.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 5, 2025

Social media alone didn’t decide last year’s elections

Last year's record number of elections around the world hold some important lessons. One is that social media wasn't the key determinant of outcomes that many made it out to be.
Fuji Media's headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025

Fuji Media shares rise to 17-year high on Rheos’ 5% stake

Rheos, which manages a popular fund called Hifumi, holds 5.12% of Fuji Media shares after building its stake from Jan. 20 to Thursday.
About 80% of children in Australia between the ages of 8 and 12 used at least one social media platform in 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 21, 2025

Underage social media users show large Australian breaches

About 80% of children in Australia between 8 and 12 used at least one platform in 2024, a watchdog report has found.
A rally in support of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan. 18. Young men have emerged as a key demographic that has come out in support of Yoon, in contrast to the many young women participating in protests opposing him.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2025

Men, media and MAGA deepen South Korea’s split

Political polarization in South Korea is evermore extreme, with many young men rallying around impeached President Yoon, fueled by online media and a MAGA-inspired movement.
Fuji TV President Kenji Shimizu speaks to reporters in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2025

Longtime Fuji Media director Hieda resigns from advisory panel

The move follows a firestorm that engulfed Fuji Media and its core unit, Fuji Television Network, over the handling of a sex scandal involving former TV star Masahiro Nakai.
A Voice of America crew make a live report as they stand in a causeway leading to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's estate in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, last December.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2025

Trump freezes U.S.-funded media outlets including Voice of America

The abrupt freezing of U.S.-funded outlets will be a blow to efforts at countering Russian and Chinese information offensives.
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks during an NBA All-Star Game event in San Francisco on Feb. 16.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 16, 2025

To get big in China, NBA stars enlist social media surrogates

The trend comes as recently fraught ties between the NBA and China thaw.
The Voice of America building in Washington on Sunday, a day after more than 1,300 of the employees of the media broadcaster, which operates in almost 50 languages, were placed on leave
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2025

China and Russia eager to fill void as Trump axes U.S.-funded media

Trumps moves come after years of efforts by Beijing and Moscow to promote their own worldview on the global media landscape.
Giants fans cheer during an exhibition game against the Dodgers at Tokyo Dome on March 15.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Apr 14, 2025

NPB can learn from MLB amid backlash to its new social media policy

Arguing that the rights of NPB and its broadcasters are in peril because fans upload short videos from games is a hard sell.
The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media at an earlier age.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 14, 2025

Two-thirds of fourth to sixth graders in Japan use social media, survey finds

The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media from an earlier age.
Fuji Media's headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2025

U.S. investor to propose candidates for Fuji Media's board

Dalton Investments said in a statement that the old-fashioned corporate structure of Fuji Media must be swept away.
SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao speaks during a news conference on Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2025

SBI Holdings CEO to 'fight to the end' if Fuji Media resists leadership rethink

Yoshitaka Kitao said he will increase SBI Holdings’ stake in Fuji Media Holdings depending on how the TV network responds.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight