"Japan's foreign aid agency has scrapped a cultural exchange initiative with African countries after an online misinformation campaign led to a torrent of complaints and fear of increased immigration. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced on Thursday that it will cancel the Africa Hometown scheme, after an episode that experts say illustrates the potential impact of fake news and populist narratives to shape migration policy."
"However, an erroneous Nigerian government statement about a special visa category helped spur false claims online. Critics of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba accused him on social media of plotting to bring millions of Africans and Kurds into Japan. Before being debunked, the claim spread widely, helped by input from Elon Musk, the United States-based billionaire owner of X who has increasingly used the social media platform to spread such claims."
Japan's foreign aid agency canceled the Africa Hometown cultural exchange after an online misinformation campaign generated a torrent of complaints and fears over immigration. The scheme linked four regional Japanese cities with communities in four African nations to promote training and cultural understanding and was not connected to visas or migration. An erroneous Nigerian government statement about a special visa category helped spur false claims that critics amplified on social media, accusing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of plotting to bring millions of Africans and Kurds. Amplification on X contributed to the spread. Local authorities were overwhelmed, and JICA said participating municipalities could not cope with the backlash.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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