Key Facts
• October 2025: Miyagi Prefecture governor election held.
• Katsunori Yoneshige, CEO of JX Press Corporation, interviewed.
• Yoneshige founded JX Press in 2008 during university.
• Internet election campaigning legalized in Japan in 2013.
• Phase 1 (pre-2023): Internet elections effective for small vote shares (few %).
• Phase 2 (2024 onward): SNS influences tens of % vote shares.
• Urban areas like Sendai show stronger SNS impact on voting.
• SNS allows anyone to post; content often unverified.
• Algorithms prioritize emotionally charged content, increasing misinformation spread.
• Monetization on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube incentivizes viral, provocative posts.
• Half-true misinformation spreads more than outright falsehoods.
• Voters advised to critically assess SNS information and consider official candidate websites.
• Candidate Murai did not actively use official SNS accounts to counter misinformation.
• Community Notes on X can correct misinformation if supported by factual URLs.
• Administrative fact-checking deemed impractical and potentially biased.
• Prefecture should clarify policies and respond clearly to misinformation on SNS.
• Constructive policy debates on SNS unlikely due to platform dynamics.
• Media should enhance fact-checking and explain reasons behind coverage biases.
Summary
The October 2025 Miyagi governor election highlighted the growing influence of social media (SNS) on electoral outcomes. Katsunori Yoneshige, CEO of JX Press Corporation, explains that Japan’s internet election campaigning has evolved from Phase 1-effective mainly in niche or small-scale elections-to Phase 2, where SNS impacts large vote shares across diverse voter groups. Urban areas like Sendai, with younger populations relying on SNS, showed distinct voting patterns influenced by online discourse. However, SNS’s open nature and algorithmic promotion of emotionally charged content facilitate the spread of misinformation and defamation, often monetized by content creators. Yoneshige stresses the importance of voters critically evaluating SNS information and suggests candidates actively use official SNS channels to counter falsehoods, citing Murai’s failure to do so as a missed opportunity. While administrative fact-checking is seen as impractical, local governments should clearly communicate policies and rebut misinformation. Given SNS’s tendency to amplify conflict, constructive policy debates remain unlikely. The media’s role in thorough fact-checking and transparent reporting is vital to help voters understand complex election dynamics in the digital age.
