NHK analyzed a series of fake rescue requests on the old Twitter account X immediately after the Noto Peninsula earthquake, and found that many of them were posted in Japanese from overseas, and were viewed more than 11 million times in total. I found out that it goes up to .



Some of the senders are posting videos that teach how to make money by getting a lot of views on X, and it seems that X's monetization system has an impact on the spread of false information. The reality has emerged.

Immediately after the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred, X posted a request for rescue from the disaster-stricken area in Ishikawa Prefecture, but there was also a flurry of false information that listed non-existent addresses and attached unrelated images.



Of these, NHK analyzed 24 accounts that posted false information calling for rescue from the same address in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, with videos from other locations. Twelve of the respondents had their place of residence in Pakistan, and at least nine posted regularly in Arabic or Urdu, Pakistan's main language.



Since October last year, these accounts have posted nearly 3,000 posts related to Japan, including about 160 posts about the Noto Peninsula earthquake, which have been viewed more than 11 million times, and Haneda Approximately 70 posts about a fiery collision between planes that occurred at an airport were viewed more than 2.5 million times.

Since last summer, X has introduced a system that allows users to earn revenue when paying users receive a certain number of "impressions."



Some of the people who posted fake rescue requests have posted videos on YouTube that teach how to earn money by getting a certain number of views = "impressions" on ▽X, and how to do so. In some cases, accounts have been reported to have made money on X, which is widely used in Japan. It seems that there are.

YouTube videos that teach you how to make money with X

In response to the interview, people who earn money from imp...

Posts reporting income earned with X

The act of copying posts that have gone viral in Japan and attaching videos and images that are likely to stimulate emotions in order to gain impressions is believed to be spreading mainly in South Asia and the Middle East.



Among them, a person who lives in Pakistan, who had posted photos taken during the Great East Japan Earthquake after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, claiming that they were from the current earthquake, responded to an interview with NHK through X's direct message, and stated that the purpose of the post was He admitted that it was to make money.



He then explained, ``I posted this to show my empathy for the Japanese people and let people around me know about the situation in Japan, but I will no longer make such posts.''

Posts by people who say they live in Pakistan

Although it is said that the payment system used by X to distribute profits cannot be officially used in Pakistan, it seems that the method of receiving profits is spreading through SNS.



The person who was giving instructions on how to get impressions using He repeatedly posted in Japanese, including posting videos of the tsunami as being caused by the recent earthquake.

Posts by people who responded in Urdu

This person responded in Urdu to NHK's interview via email:



“I wanted to share the suffering of the people of Japan who suffered a huge disaster on the first day of the year.I made this post because I am looking for a university in Japan to pursue a Ph.D. If my post hurt anyone, I apologize and will stop posting like this in the future."

Aiming for profit through SNS under difficult economic conditions

Pakistan, which is believed to be one of the sources of posts such as fake rescue requests, continues to face severe economic conditions, including severe inflation, and experts say, ``While many young people are unemployed, it is a good idea to earn money through SNS.'' ``The number of people who do so is increasing.''



In 2022, large-scale floods occurred in Pakistan, with one-third of the country submerged under water, damaging major industries such as agriculture, and the economy has remained in turmoil ever since.


▽In addition to facing inflation, as the consumer price index in January increased by 28.3% compared to the same month last year, ▽ILO = International Labor Organization has reported that the number of unemployed people in last year (2023) It is estimated that the number of people has increased by 1.5 million compared to 2021.



On the first day of this month, many people with shovels and other equipment gathered on the streets of the capital, Islamabad, where people looking for construction work and other day labor come.


Among them, a 21-year-old man said, ``I came here from my hometown to look for work, and it's been three or four days and I haven't found any work.The situation is getting worse.I left my parents at home, but I still can't find work.'' I'm sad because I don't have one."

In difficult economic times, some people are thinking of using SNS to make money.



A 26-year-old man who works as a civil engineer said that he had been trying to make money by posting eye-catching videos on social media for several months, saying, ``Recently, the economy has been bad, and gas prices have increased significantly.'' "Everyone needs money and is trying to make money using social media. I think you can earn extra income while working."



An expert familiar with Pakistan's SNS situation said, ``The employment situation is poor and there are many young people who are unemployed, so more and more people are trying to earn money through SNS.In order to get more impressions, they are using foreign information and information. They also use language.''

Expert “Polluting the information space”

Professor Heihiro Oberlin University

Professor Heiwa Hiroshi of Oberlin University, who is familiar with fake information, points out the need for countermeasures.

"Whether it's a major disaster or a major accident that costs people's lives, for some users it's nothing more than an element that will give them impressions. When you post about Japanese news, you get impressions, so people say, ``This makes money.'' It is quite possible that awareness spread rapidly.This kind of behavior is called ``impression zombie'', which collects impressions, and it may be reasonable to think that there are programs in circulation that automatically post.''



“With the introduction of a system that allows you to earn money just by using There is a good possibility that such users have started to enter the market, and the pollution of the information space may become even more serious. Any attempt to contaminate the information space carries the risk of shaking society, so some kind of solid countermeasures will be needed."

Although X's terms and conditions prohibit the use of natural disasters for monetization, Professor Taira said, ``I have to say that I have doubts about the current response. "We need to take a firm approach and ensure that information is disclosed."