Since the House of Representatives election on October 27th, posts on the Ministry of Finance’s official x (formerly Twitter) account have been inundated with critical replies. The number of replies has increased by more than 15 times since before the election, and most of them criticize and slander the ministry, with comments such as “dismantling the Ministry of Finance” and “Zaim Shinrikyo.” It has been pointed out that the background to this is criticism of the Ministry of Finance’s resistance to the Democratic Party for the People’s proposal to abolish the “1.03 million yen barrier.” Too heated… Tamaki: “Let’s have a calm discussion” The number of replies to the Ministry of Finance’s x posts averaged 65 per post between May 15, 2022, when data became available, and the House of Representatives election on October 27 this year. However, after the House of Representatives election, the average number of cases increased to 1,013, a 15.6-fold increase. The situation has become so heated that on November 14, Yuichiro Tamaki, the leader of the Democratic Party for the People and a former Ministry of Finance official, called for “calm and constructive discussion” in his speech. Regarding this situation, Yamaguchi Shinichi, an associate professor of social information studies at the International University of Japan, said, “In the House of Representatives election, the Democratic Party for the People made great strides by putting forward the abolition of the ‘1.03 million yen wall,’ but the Ministry of Finance showed resistance. This has given internet users a clear enemy to criticize.” (Omitted) 20,000 posts, 92% of which were negative. (omitted) 92 hashtags, 180 posts about “dismantling the Ministry of Finance” An analysis of the content of 783 replies or mentions posted to the Ministry of Finance account during the 24 hours from 7 p.m. on November 16th showed that the second most commonly used word after “Ministry of Finance” was “dismantling.” It was included in 270 cases, or 34% of the total, and in 180 of those cases it was used as “dismantling the Ministry of Finance.” The “Zaim Shinrikyo” cult, which mocks the government’s strict stance on fiscal discipline, appeared 18 times. (Omitted). Associate Professor Yamaguchi said, “Opinions on the Internet have begun to have a momentum that changes the opinions of the majority. “These most recent elections are a clear turning point.” On the other hand, “Easy-to-understand conflicts are easily spread online, but the content of policies is what is questioned. “When online discussions become excessive or extreme, it becomes difficult to have substantive discussion,” he warns. (Data analyst Nishiyama Ryo) Sankei Shimbun 2024/11/23 15:30.
Like the company employee who was working on planning election strategies for the Hyogo Prefectural Governor election, if your social media account goes viral, you can just delete your account and run away. With new media, you can do that.
Well, it’s probably only a matter of time before the visible enemy changes from the government to the people next door. The time when we will kill others for a meal is fast approaching.
It’s easy for Japanese people because there are only losers who complain on the internet. Riots would have already broken out overseas. Even if 90% of their income was taken in taxes and they were on the verge of starvation, Japanese people would just complain on the internet.
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