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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 9, 2023

Second coming of once-banned conspiracy theorists after Twitter amnesty

Twitter has turned into what campaigners call a cesspool of misinformation, hate-filled conspiracies and racial slurs.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 30, 2022

Brazilians rush to hospital after news of Pele's death

'You didn't even see the other players,' one fan said. 'You just fixated on Pele and what he would do. Pele and Santos are what made me fall in love with football.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2022

Elon Musk's Twitter lifts rule against COVID-19 misinformation

The move comes after the mercurial billionaire reinstated a slew of accounts on the social media network that had previously been banned for violating its content rules.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2022

An eye for an eye doesn’t work in disinformation war

In the struggle to win the ideological narrative wars, democracies are tempted to resort to disinformation to match the fabrications of their more autocratic enemies. It's a bad idea.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 14, 2022

Google, Facebook and Twitter to tackle deepfakes or risk EU fines, document says

The updated code of practice on disinformation spells out examples of manipulative behavior such as deepfakes and fake accounts that the signatories will have to tackle.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2022

'Protect the truth': A Marcos return in Philippines triggers fear for history

Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s presidency, set to begin on June 30, has many people worried about losing access to books and other accounts of his father's rule.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 12, 2022

Propaganda around Russian invasion of Ukraine reveals failings in Meta's moderation

The social media giant's content policies and enforcement mechanisms have enabled pro-Russian propaganda, according to those that moderate its services.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 5, 2022

Eight years after Maidan Revolution, Ukraine better equipped for information war with Russia

A vanguard of volunteers are fighting Russian propaganda, which for years had spread inside Ukraine and beyond.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 17, 2022

The Queen’s Jubilee year has just started, but the bad news hasn’t stopped for the royals

For all the differences, the troubles of Prince Andrew and Prince Charles both raise murky questions about money and how it moves in the opaque world of royalty.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 2, 2022

Behind Neil Young vs. Spotify, a fraught relationship with musicians

In the past, many musicians have spoken out over what they see as the unfairness of the streaming model overall.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 24, 2022

A shinkansen to space (and other news found beneath the sofa)

While you may have done a 'big clean' around your house at New Year's, there are still a few news stories that our writer would like to tidy up.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2022

Bad news for London and New York: Finance hubs are becoming obsolete

COVID-19 has shown just how little location now matters for many jobs and businesses in finance and gave executives confidence that more operations could be managed remotely.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2021

Sayonara and good riddance to 2021. Enter the Tiger.

There were many winners and losers in 2021, a year in which the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus once again dominated the headlines.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2021

24 confirmed dead in suspected case of arson in Osaka

One source said police received a report that the fire started from a liquid that came out of a paper bag held by a man who appeared to be in his 60s.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 2, 2021

Facebook and Instagram remove Chinese network over fake COVID-19 claims

The claims targeted English-speaking audiences in the United States and Britain and Chinese-speaking audiences in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 30, 2021

Scores hoping to enter Japan in limbo — again — after latest entry ban

The country's new entry measures — which together with Israel are among the world's most stringent — mean that from Tuesday all new visitors are barred from entry.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2024

Meiji Seika Pharma files suit against lawmaker over 'unfounded' vaccine claims

CDP Lower House lawmaker Kazuhiro Haraguchi has said that the drugmaker's replicon vaccine is "akin to a biological weapon."
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tries on a pair of Orion augmented reality glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025

Meta shelves fact-checking in policy reversal ahead of Trump inauguration

It plans to implement on Facebook, Instagram and Threads a system of "community notes" similar to that used on rival X.
Social media giant Meta slashed its content moderation policies on Tuesday, including ending its U.S. fact-checking program, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming president Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025

Big Tech rolls out the red carpet for Trump ahead of his inauguration

Since the November election, a stream of senior moguls have traveled to meet with Trump at his Florida estate.
Tiger Woods says the situation in the Los Angeles area takes precedence over the status of the Genesis Invitational, the PGA Tour event he has hosted since 2019.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jan 16, 2025

Tiger Woods has no news on status of Genesis Invitational amid wildfires

With wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area, Woods said that real life carries more weight than the event.
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.
Prince Hisahito heads to greet the Emperor and Empress on the occasion of his 18th birthday in Tokyo on Sep. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Prince Hisahito to hold first news conference on March 3

It is customary for Imperial Family members to hold a press conference when they reach the age of majority.
Roki Sasaki talks about his marriage announcement during an interview at the Los Angeles Dodgers' training camp in Glendale, Arizona.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 22, 2025

Roki Sasaki surprises Dodgers teammates with marriage news

Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki surprised teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday with the big news.
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an online Security Council meeting from the Kremlin in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2025

Russian disinformation 'infects' AI chatbots, researchers warn

A well-resourced Moscow-based operation is said to be distorting the output of chatbots by flooding large language models with pro-Kremlin falsehoods.
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.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as Vice President JD Vance looks on during a meeting with President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the White House in Washington on April 14. Rubio and his aides shut down a State Department office on Wednesday that tracks and counters global disinformation from foreign actors, including the governments of China, Russia and Iran, U.S. officials said.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. State Department closing office targeting foreign disinformation

The GEC had come under intense criticism from some Republicans who said it was straying from its mission, accusing it of disfavoring opinions by conservative media in particular.
A video circulating on Chinese social media depicting a "U.S. sweatshop"
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 18, 2025

Chinese vent anger at Trump's trade war with memes and mockery

Chinese online warriors have taken advantage of the massive strides in AI to create memes highlighting that many of the goods bought by Americans are made in their country.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami