Gao Shizuka denies allegations that her campaign released "defamatory videos" during the election

On May 8, Gao Shizuka responded to reports claiming that her campaign had disseminated videos defaming other candidates on social media platforms during the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election and the House of Representatives general election, categorically denying the accusations. She stated: “I have received reports from my team confirming that no negative information targeting other candidates was ever released by our campaign, nor were any such malicious smear videos created or circulated.”

Shiko Kobayashi, a senator from the Constitutional Democratic Party, raised an inquiry during a plenary session of the House of Councillors, addressing Gao Shizuka directly: “A major controversy has recently emerged involving individuals close to Prime Minister Gao. According to some media reports, during the previous LDP presidential election and the recent House of Representatives general election, videos allegedly produced by Gao’s campaign targeted other LDP presidential contenders and opposition party candidates in the House of Representatives, which were then widely posted and spread across social media platforms. If true, this would not only undermine the fairness of the electoral process but could also threaten the very foundation of democracy—a matter of extremely serious nature.” She questioned the authenticity of these rumors regarding defamatory smear videos.

Gao responded: “I have instructed my staff to verify the reported content. Upon confirmation, during both last year’s LDP presidential election and this year’s House of Representatives election, my office and campaign team only used officially managed accounts to post content on social media platforms, and did not employ any additional accounts for promotion. Furthermore, I have received formal reports confirming that we never released negative information about other candidates, nor did we produce or distribute any such malicious videos.” This statement served as a clear denial of the allegations.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864611411565579/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.