"Foreigners Started Fires": False Information Runs Rampant Following Strong Earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan

Immediately following the magnitude 7.1 strong earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the 28th, fake news videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI), false rescue requests, and other misinformation have been spreading rapidly, primarily centered around social media platforms.

According to NHK on the 29th, a post was published late last night on X (formerly Twitter) asking for rescue with the message, "Please save me. I am buried alive," which garnered over 300,000 views.

However, upon verification, the address provided by the author did not actually exist, and the account in question has been suspended.

Fake news related to "Aeon Mall Kumamoto," a large shopping mall located in Kashima-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, where casualties occurred due to an explosion damage caused by the earthquake, was also rampant.

On YouTube, fake videos disguised as broadcasting company news reports using AI were posted, recording tens of thousands of views.

On X and Threads, footage from the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake was recycled and distributed as if it were footage from the current earthquake, while groundless and hateful rumors such as "foreigners started fires" are even spreading.

Previously, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that immediately after the earthquake, conspiracy theory posts such as "predicted the earthquake in advance" or "artificial earthquake" were successively uploaded on social media.

In particular, a post claiming, "I announced the prediction and got the location right," along with a map image, exceeded 3.4 million views.

Furuta Daisuke, editor-in-chief of the Japan Fact-Check Center, urged, "When encountering provocative information, please verify its authenticity through announcements by public institutions or reports by media outlets, and do not share uncertain information."

Local media and rescue authorities warned that the spread of information contrary to facts could cause serious disruptions to actual disaster relief and on-site response activities.

In Japan, false information that "lions escaped from the zoo" was distributed during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, and rescue authorities experienced confusion due to false rescue requests during the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake as well.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.