{
  "id": 9884680,
  "title": "False claims alleging theft by foreigners in Japan spread on social media",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/false-claims-alleging-theft-by-foreigners-in-japan-spread-on-social",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-26T02:13:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260926/p2g/00m/0na/012000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm Constella Security Japan discovered that videos falsely depicting foreigners stealing metal from railway tracks have been widely shared on social media in Japan. The misinformation aims to portray foreigners as a threat to public safety. Roughly 4.3 million views were accumulated by September 15 across platforms like X, YouTube, and TikTok. One March post described \"metal theft by foreigners\" and showed footage of people allegedly stealing cable from tracks. Similar posts were found on TikTok. Constella traced the footage to an August 2022 Instagram post in Arabic, unrelated to railway theft in Japan. Since March, Japanese posts replaced Arabic text with unrelated Japanese descriptions, indicating false information. Accounts spreading the misinformation in Japan, often with anti-immigrant stances, had large followings. Analyst Ryuna Nagamine warned viewers to scrutinize the content of videos independently of accompanying text and verify facts. Previous disinformation campaigns in Japan included claims of foreign theft after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and recent posts questioning the number of crimes committed by foreigners ahead of elections.",
  "summary": "TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Videos falsely portraying foreigners as stealing metal from railway tracks in Japan have spread widely on the country's social media,",
  "key_points": [
    "False videos show foreigners stealing metal from railway tracks",
    "Misinformation aims to portray foreigners as public safety threat",
    "4.3 million views accumulated by September 15 across platforms"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The spread of false claims about foreigners on social media in Japan fits a pattern of disinformation that aims to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment and portray foreigners as a threat to public safety.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Mainichi",
        "title": "Japan's 'Chanson Monk' uses song, sutras to spread message of peace",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/japans-chanson-monk-uses-song-sutras-to-spread-message-of-peace",
        "published": "2026-09-26T04:00:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}