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Japan Times
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japan to ramp up measures against foreign election interference
Japan plans to enhance its surveillance and regulatory measures to prevent foreign interference in elections. The Cabinet Secretariat's National Cybersecurity Office will play a key role in identifying problems that must be addressed to create a system for dealing with threats in an integrated manner. In last month's Upper House election, foreign actors were suspected to be behind the spread of disinformation on social media. Election interference "poses a risk to democracy, but there's no specific body to handle it," cybersecurity minister Masaaki Taira told a news conference Friday, stressing the need to create a body to oversee measures. Election interference often involves information manipulation and propaganda aimed at influencing public opinion and policy decisions. By spreading disinformation and extremist discourse on the internet during elections, foreign actors seek to destabilize political systems through social divisions while supporting the campaigns of specific candidates and parties. Professor Takamichi Saito of Meiji University's Cybersecurity Laboratory said that election interference is "part of military strategy." Russia and China are suspected of meddling in Britain's 2016 referendum on whether to leave the European Union, in U.S. presidential elections since the same year and in the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election. In last month's Upper House election, some information was spread in an unnatural manner on social media, likely by automated bots. Some accounts on X linked to websites likely associated with Russia were frozen. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki told a news conference during the election campaign period that Japan "has become a target of influence operations" by foreign actors. Currently, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Foreign and Defense ministries are tasked with gathering and analyzing information, while the communications ministry is tasked with asking social media platform operators to address inappropriate posts. A cross-agency effort is becoming necessary as the threat of election interference grows. Key issues to be considered by the government include establishing measures to block content, such as the removal of problematic posts and bot accounts. The government faces a difficult challenge in determining how to conduct fact checks and regulate radical statements, including those labeling foreign nationals as enemies. A legal framework on the matter must be consistent with constitutionally protected freedom of speech, so designing such a system is expected to be a complicated procedure. "There are a wide range of issues to consider, such as how much obligation to impose on social media platform operators," a government source said. The National Cybersecurity Office was established last month to oversee active cyberdefense policy. The office will play a central role in investigating suspected interference in the Upper House race and measures other countries take against such interference.
Nikkei Asia
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Japan to step up measures to fight foreign election interference
Japan's recent upper house election saw a wave of social media bots spreading fake AI images on topics like vaccines and foreigners. © AP SATOSHI TEZUKA TOKYO -- The Japanese government is ramping up efforts to combat foreign election interference after the spread of misinformation by bots on social media became a problem in the recent upper house vote. "Foreign interference in elections is commonplace around the world, and other countries are responding in various ways," said Masaaki Taira, minister for digital transformation, at a press conference on Tuesday. "Japan is not immune to this issue."
16-07-2025
- Politics
Japan Warns of Foreign Interference in Elections
News from Japan Politics Jul 16, 2025 15:50 (JST) Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)--Japanese elections face foreign interference through social media, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki said Wednesday. "We will strengthen our capability to tackle information warfare, including the spread of disinformation," he told a press conference. At a press conference Tuesday, digital transformation minister Masaaki Taira said that there had been such interventions in connection with Sunday's election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament. Aoki refrained from referring to specific cases, however. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan launches group to help more women become digital experts
Japan has kicked off a consortium comprising the national and local governments and private-sector companies with an aim to foster female digital experts. The public-private consortium — set up Monday and led by Wakako Yata, former special adviser to the prime minister — will work to help women acquire digital skills to raise their wages, among other actions. It also hopes to contribute to promoting regional revitalization. "We want to boost productivity at small businesses in regional areas by leveraging digital technologies and unlock women's potential — an underutilized human resource," Yata said at an event held in Tokyo the same day to mark the launch of the consortium. "Through efforts across government agencies and ministries and in cooperation with the private sector, we hope to create regional communities where women can play active roles," she added. Yata also seemed positive about the idea of working with 68 local governments that are members of the central government's council on promoting workstyle and workplace reforms in regional areas. Digital transformation minister Masaaki Taira said at the event that the Digital Agency is ready to offer support to "realize a society where women can really thrive."
Japan Times
25-06-2025
- Japan Times
Some functions of Japan's My Number card now available on iPhones
Japan on Tuesday started a service that allows some functions of the My Number personal identification card to be mounted on Apple's iPhones. Through biometric authentication, iPhone users can now log in to the Mynaportal website for My Number-related administrative tasks and obtain copies of residential and other administrative certificates at convenience stores. The My Number card has functions to confirm the holder's basic personal data, including the name and date of birth, and to serve as a digital certificate of the holder. Smartphones running Google's Android operating system can already support the digital certificate function, while iPhones support both functions. On Tuesday, digital transformation minister Masaaki Taira visited a convenience store in Tokyo and demonstrated how to obtain a copy of his residential certificate. He held his smartphone above the multifunctional photocopier, after verifying his identity using facial recognition on his smartphone. "I was able to obtain (the certificate) smoothly," Taira told reporters. The Digital Agency plans to gradually expand the smartphone-compatible functions of the card, including the ability to serve as a health insurance card.
