Japan and the whole world witnessed a tragedy last week with the assassination of the former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. The author of the crime was arrested in the process, and some little idiots had “fun” to compare the criminal to Hideo Kojima, supposedly because of the great physical resemblance between the two individuals. A joke that quickly spread through the worst sites on the Internet, starting with 4chan, until people took it very seriously, including some sites and politicians, who should have checked it out. information before saying anything on social networks.
Kojima finds himself at the center of false information in spite of himself
#KojimaProductions strongly condemns the spread of fake news and rumors that convey false information. We do not tolerate such libel and will consider taking legal action in some cases. pic.twitter.com/fDi0FR9kB0
— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) July 9, 2022
Several sites and media outlets with little regard have indeed relayed information about the perpetrator of Shinzo Abe’s assassination, while posting photos of Hideo Kojima, believing it to be one and the same person. This was also relayed in France by a few politicians, whom we won’t even do the honor of naming, before we point out their error (and, let’s say the words, their stupidity and their racism).
Faced with this disinformation that has spread around the world, Kojima Productions issued a press release:
“ Kojima Productions strongly condemns the dissemination of fake news and rumors conveying false information. We do not tolerate such defamation and will consider taking legal action in certain cases. »
If there should be any legal action, it would undoubtedly be against the original authors of this “joke” as well as against certain television news outlets who took up all this without checking, but probably not against the politicians of our country (but that will at least be enough to prove the stupidity of some, if it still had to be proven).
A rather improbable affair which shows more than ever that it is necessary to be careful with what one can read online, and that a little verification does not hurt.