Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun reported that rumors of racial discrimination spread on social media after a 7.3 earthquake in the waters of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on the 13th, saying, “A Korean or black man poisoned a well”.
A tweet with the content of ″I saw the Koreans burning poison in the well of Fukushima!″. Currently, the Twitter account has been deleted. Twitter capture = Yonhap News
On the 14th, Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun said, “Another discriminatory remarks, rumors, and uncertain information about the earthquake that occurred in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures abounded on Twitter and YouTube.
A wall in a residential area in Fukushima Prefecture collapsed on the morning of the 14th, the day after an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. yunhap news
In fact, right after the earthquake on the night of the 13th, a tweet was posted on Twitter saying, “I saw the Koreans burning poison in the well of Fukushima!” Netizens criticized it as “the worst incitement to discrimination that reminds the Koreans in Japan of the Great Kanto Earthquake that they cannot stand.” Some voices were concerned about hate crimes.
It is pointed out that when the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923, rumors such as’The Koreans detoxified the well’ and’The Koreans are arson’ spread, reminiscent of the massacre of thousands of Koreans.
The Twitter account that posted the tweet in question has been deleted.
The newspaper said, “These remarks mimic the rumors that’the Koreans have poisoned the wells’ that spread during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake,” he said. “The spread of information is much faster now than at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake.”
The newspaper said, “Whenever a large-scale natural disaster occurs in Japan, people’s anxiety reaches its peak, and false information is easily spreading.” The rumors that this earthquake is an artificial earthquake created by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture An explosion occurred in a factory in the city’ mentioned the rumor. The newspaper added that neither of these rumors is true.
In addition, the newspaper advised, “If you encounter uncertain information in order to deal with false information, do not spread it immediately, wait for the media to report it or report it to the management of social media.”
Reporter Shin Hyeyeon [email protected]