Publications
Measures to Tackle Delusional Political Campaigns
AbstractThe election process is crucial to democracy as it allows the people to select their representatives who will bear the duty to develop and carry out the will of the people; and thus, a political campaign comes into play. A political campaign generally reflects the intention and development plan a political party aims to pursue. It is equally (or even more) important and persuasive as the candidates themselves. Nonetheless, like everything in the world, there are two sides to a coin, in this case feasible and unfeasible (delusional) political campaigns. While feasible political campaigns allow voters to make well-informed votes for their country, unfeasible political campaigns could be considered as misinforming voters. In spite of the influence a political campaign can have over people, there is as yet no specific law that regulates campaigns directly, given the importance of freedom of speech. This paper discusses the relevant legal framework on political campaigns as well as measures to tackle delusional political campaigns, in order to empower voters and create a healthier ecosystem in a democratic society.
Japan’s Accidental Resilience in the Disinformation Age
Call to Action for Georgia’s Stability [in Japanese]
Hasina’s Last Stand: The Quota Movement, Student Uprising, and the Future of Bangladeshi Democracy
AbstractBangladesh has been ruled by Sheikh Hasina for 16 years, during which time the country’s democracy has been undermined by widespread vote rigging, voter intimidation, and violent suppression of the opposition. However, the tide began to turn with the student quota protests and subsequent uprising, which eventually forced Hasina from power and led to the establishment of a military caretaker government. Despite this shift, Bangladesh remains on a quest for democracy, struggling to recover from the long period of Hasina’s undemocratic rule.
Democracy and Human Rights Program
Misinformation about Taiwan from Japan: Narrative Analysis and the Formation of New Narratives
AbstractHow should we deal with the growing concern over misinformation and disinformation? This paper examines this issue using misinformation about Taiwan emanating from Japan. The article “90% of Taiwan's Retired Executives Sell Information to China," published by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on February 28, 2023, not only sparked debate in Japan, but also led to the Taiwanese government directly pointing out the inaccuracy of the content. In this report, we first conduct a fact-check of this information and analyze the high probability that it is misinformation. Next, we counter the misinformation through a detailed analysis of the persona of the target of the misinformation and the narrative that the misinformation conveys. This study points out that the disinformation could trigger anti-Taiwan sentiment based on the persona of a 50-year-old married man, a company employee in a managerial position, with a household income of 8.5 million yen, and a Nikkei Shimbun reader. We will formulate counter-narratives from the perspective of the economy, in which the persona has a high interest, and will also touch on points to be considered when diffusing the information. Finally, we conclude that even newspaper articles must be careful about accuracy, pointing out the limitations of this paper.