Lemdro.id

Archived version

Pro-China entities have attempted to use disinformation to undermine democracy and social cohesion in Japan. This has included targeting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her government through state media, diplomatic channels and coordinated online campaigns across the Indo-Pacific region. Japanese authorities have responded by expanding fact-checking and issuing rebuttals backed by authenticated information. But government agencies presently have few powers to block content, punish those spreading disinformation, or publicly attribute attacks to foreign state actors. Japan would benefit from studying and working with Australia as it considers how best to strengthen counter-disinformation powers as part of wider security reforms.

China has been spreading anti-Takaichi disinformation across the region to influence public opinion. Early this year, a false narrative spread in Taiwan claiming that Takaichi’s grandfather was a soldier during the Japanese invasion of China and was involved in executions by beheading. This disinformation sought to not only confuse voters in Japan but also sway public opinion in Taiwan, illustrating how a single fabricated narrative can be simultaneously weaponised across multiple audiences in different countries.

This wave of disinformation correlates with Beijing’s wider attempts to coerce Japan, particularly since Takaichi took a robust stance over Taiwan.

...

Japan’s legal framework for combating disinformation is still relatively underdeveloped compared to other peer democratic countries, including Australia. There are presently no direct criminal penalties for spreading disinformation, nor provisions for confiscating illicit profits derived from it. When disinformation causes harm to a specific individual or organisation, it is addressed indirectly under existing penal code provisions – defamation, fraud, or obstruction of business by fraudulent means. While Japan may not need new and dedicated provisions, it would at the very least need to update existing provisions so that they specifically address state-backed information manipulation.

Currently, Japan’s Public Offices Election Act provides powers to intervene if disinformation threatens electoral integrity, but those powers are harder to invoke when disinformation targets public opinion about government policy rather than election candidates. Even if a disinformation campaign has severe negative impact, authorities can only request, not mandate, that platforms remove content. This creates a structural asymmetry: foreign state actors can act with speed and scale while Japanese authorities are constrained to polite requests.

...

Critically, neither country has yet perfectly cracked the hardest problem: how democratic governments can act swiftly against state-backed disinformation campaigns without empowering the same legal machinery that authoritarian states misuse to silence dissent. Australia and Japan already consult and cooperate on this challenge, but the pace and complexity of modern information operations, increasingly turbocharged by AI, are outrunning existing mechanisms. The task now is to elevate and embed that cooperation, so it becomes structural rather than episodic. That means deepening permanent working-level channels between agencies. It also means drawing in civil society researchers and specialist private-sector firms in both countries that are often detecting and analysing AI-enabled disinformation campaigns faster than governments can.

...

Artist: Arutera | pixiv | twitter | danbooru

Full quality: .webp 6 MB (1961 × 3346)

Anyone had to take a break from reading something because it reminded them too much of their childhood?

I remember being terrified every time I had to complete a task for my parents involving strangers (usually shopkeepers) because I would practice what I was going to say but there would always be something that went off-script. They wouldn't have the thing but would send me to some other person who might, or the price would be wrong or there would be a buy one get one free deal and I would have to explain why I had bought two home.

Anyway on a recommendation I started reading a story about a girl who was an unsanctioned archmage and had to hide the fact, I was not expecting the protagonist to have mild ASD and unlock a bunch of childhood memories every other chapter.

Story is Archmage Coefficient if you are curious, although I'm only at ch. 7 so I can't promise anything about later chapters.

https://friendica.myportal.social/display/e65e1095-1569-f423-e2f2-637090146501

bonus:

I just stumbled about the new Technic sets and want to talk specifically about the Mighty Machines collectables. They are not on lego.com yet, but Sariel on YouTube lists their price at €4.99 which is one Euro more than the current CMFs.

My question is: Do you think this is an indication for a future price hike of CMFs?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/42098308

Okay, I'll just say it-- Jim Woodring is a god of comics. Or somewhere in that realm, yup. His stuff is not only utterly unique in design and execution, but it works amazingly well, with worlds of meaning and depth (and shallowness), all conveyed wordlessly. Personally, I find that the stories can be read almost endlessly, retaining a remarkable freshness and wonder that keeps delivering. So let's take a look...

"FRANK acquires Pupshaw." For this story, it will help to know the relevant characters:

• FRANK, the childish, distractible protagonist of these tales.
• MANHOG, his gluttonous, repulsive neighbor, seldom up to any good.
• The JERRY CHICKENS, lesser-seen neighbors, generally neutral in affect.
• PUPSHAW, Frank's demi-godling pet, usually rising to the critical occasion.

(right-click as needed)

Image backup:
https://imgur.com/gallery/frank-acquires-pupshaw-jim-woodring-tTz5Q#/t/jim_woodring

"Frank's Faux Pa." In this one we meet:

• FAUX PA, Frank's well-meaning father. Or possibly an imposter, out to corrupt him.
• WHIM, a malicious politician-type, who prefers to wear the body of a grinning devil, his own worm-like little body not very useful in itself.

Let's just jump to the Imgur link this time:
https://imgur.com/a/franks-faux-pa-by-jim-woodring-mHO5kFD
"Hush now"

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46694576

May 1, 2026

May Day demonstrations are expected to draw crowds across the country on Friday, with organizers calling for a boycott of work, school and shopping to protest the Trump administration's policies — and what activists describe as a billionaire takeover of government.

The "May Day Strong" protest events in various cities, ranging geographically from Boston to San Francisco, are meant to mark International Labor Day. They follow anti-Trump protests under the "No Kings" banner that organizers say have drawn millions of people nationwide.

Unlike the Labor Day celebrations in the U.S. each September, May 1 has traditionally been reserved as a day of protest. In the U.S., May Day goes back to the 19th century movement to establish an eight-hour workday at a time when it wasn't unusual for Americans to work shifts of 12 hours or more.