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July 12, 2026
 

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FAKE NEWS

New research shows AI chatbots are becoming more persuasive by overwhelming users with information, regardless of the accuracy, increasing the risk of political misinformation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2026
AI Is getting dangerously good at political persuasion
The trick is using a debating tactic known as Gish galloping, a rapid-style speech tactic in which one interlocutor bombards the other with a stream of facts and stats.
A damaged concrete pillar supporting the Hachinohe Line in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 10, 2025
Like in past disasters, misinformation spreads online in Aomori quake aftermath
The spread of false information online during disasters has repeatedly emerged as a social issue in Japan.
A bear warning sign is displayed in Shirakawa-go, a popular tourist spot in Gifu Prefecture. A town in Miyagi Prefecture has retracted its social media post warning of a bear sighting after discovering an image submitted to it had been generated using artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 27, 2025
Japan town retracts bear sighting warning sparked by AI image
The town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture issued the warning after receiving the image of a bear in a residential area, but later discovered it was generated using AI.
Ruling and opposition lawmakers gather for a meeting of the House of Representatives' Commission on the Constitution on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2025
Lawmakers urge tighter rules on social media businesses
Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said that the European Union’s practice of imposing fines on platform operators “can serve as a reference for Japan.”
A person walks with an umbrella outside BBC Broadcasting House, after Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump, in London on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 15, 2025
Trump says he will likely sue the BBC for up to $5 billion over edited speech
The British Broadcasting Corp. has been plunged into its biggest crisis in decades after two senior leaders resigned following accusations of bias.
The report pointed in part to the detention by President Donald Trump's administration of a number of non-U.S. citizens over their online expression.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2025
Internet freedom declines in U.S. and Germany, study says
The report pointed in part to the detention by President Donald Trump’s administration of a number of non-U.S. citizens over their online expression.
Mike Burgess, director-general of security for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, delivers the 2025 Lowy Lecture in Sydney on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 5, 2025
Australian spy chief says ‘state sanctioned trolls’ sowing social discord
Australia faces a trend seen across Western democracies of declining trust and rising disinformation.
U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world" and his administration has reportedly moved to quash debate on the issue.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 8, 2025
Trump calls climate change a con; science braces for more
The Department of Energy is reportedly telling staff to avoid using language that runs counter to the president’s views on climate science.
In an hourlong speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump attacked his predecessor, his European allies and renewable energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 24, 2025
In bid to upend global energy policy, Trump denies climate change in U.N. speech
The U.S. president made a series of misleading claims in a rambling speech that went on for nearly an hour.
Anti-vaccine activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 18, 2024. "Disinformation" has become such a contentious label in the United States that some researchers who study the harmful effects of falsehoods are abandoning it altogether.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2025
What do some researchers call disinformation? Anything but disinformation.
The label has become so contentious in the United States that some researchers who study the harmful effects of falsehoods are abandoning it altogether.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in front of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delivers remarks linking autism to childhood vaccines and to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children — claims that are not backed by decades of science — at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2025
‘I’m not a doctor’: Trump’s autism announcement gives COVID-19 flashbacks
The U.S. president’s announcements linking a painkiller to autism ranged from unproven medical claims to self-proclaimed expertise.
A woman uses her phone at Bashantapur Durbar Square, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Thursday after the Nepali government announced it will block access to all unregistered social media platforms.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 5, 2025
Nepal to block some social media platforms, including Facebook
The move came after the companies failed to register with authorities in a crackdown on misuse.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted an urgent proposal on Friday calling for the government to strengthen measures aimed at preventing foreign interference in Japan's elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 5, 2025
LDP calls for blocking foreign interference in elections
“If foreign interference is left unchecked, it could pose a serious and immediate threat to the foundations of democracy,” an LDP proposal said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2025
U.S. senators pit Kennedy against Trump on vaccine policy
Half a dozen heated exchanges during a combative three-hour Senate hearing focused on his decision to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez.
Fumes rise from the coal-fired Hunter Power Plant in Castle Dale, Utah, in 2024. A 141-page Energy Department report challenged by more than 85 scientists in a joint analysis appeared almost in tandem with a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind a 2009 endangerment finding — the bedrock of many U.S. greenhouse gas regulations.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 3, 2025
Scientists assail ‘cherry-picking’ of Trump administration climate report
The report appeared almost in tandem with a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind a 2009 finding that’s the bedrock of many U.S. greenhouse gas regulations.
According to a survey by the Japanese Red Cross Society, over 25% of respondents in Japan saw or heard false news or information during natural disasters.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2025
Over 25% in Japan encountered false information during disasters
Nearly half of all respondents, 47.4%, were aware of Disaster Prevention Day. But 74.3% said they had never participated in local disaster response drills.
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
Social media and news have focused more on the misinformation that Japan is accepting a large number of immigrants from Africa.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a photo session for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reacts, in Yokohama, last week.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 26, 2025
Misinformation over JICA’s Africa ‘hometown’ initiative sparks controversy
Media reports claiming the initiative would include a special visa category for skilled Africans who want to come to Japan exacerbated the confusion.
A measles alert sign is posted outside the entrance to the Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York in March.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2025
‘Alternative facts’ aren’t a reason to skip vaccines
Donald Trump’s health officials have been endorsing alternative facts in science to impose policies that contradict modern medical knowledge.
Kimi Ozawa, who lost her husband in the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, prays in front of his memorial marker on Tuesday in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture.
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
Aug 12, 2025
Controversial theories continue to swirl around 1985 JAL jet crash
Some bereaved family members and critics who subscribe to the idea of possible SDF involvement say the initial probe left too many loose ends untied.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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