Main Actors of COVID-19 Related Disinformation on Facebook in Japan

Abstract

This paper descriptively analyzes 18 months’ Facebook posts from January 2020 to understand the main actors in generating and distributing disinformation related to COVID-19 on Facebook in Japan. As a result, we found that (1) a small number of accounts played central roles in generating and disseminating disinformation, receiving as many or more responses and reactions as mainstream media accounts. We also found that (2) most of disinformation seemed to be based on economic or ideological motivations, (3) disinformation were distributed with external sources such as YouTube, and (4) there were various loosely connected groups around the central disinformation accounts, forming a dynamic ecosystem that may contribute to the development of an environment conducive to the acceptance of disinformation and the cultivation of potential consumers through the related communities. Thus, a single action such as the deletion of accounts by platformers is deemed not to be effective. Disinformation in Japan should be rethought as a symptom of the socioeconomic system, not only as a problem of platform providers or of businesses and individuals, such as their literacies. This paper discusses the need to study social and economic background and the mechanism of increase and decrease in the demand for disinformation in the context of Japan.