Photo/Illutration Seiichiro Murakami, the minister for internal affairs and communications, during a Lower House plenary session in October (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

People who post false information on social media or campaign for another candidate to win risk being punished under the election law, the internal affairs minister said.

Seiichiro Murakami made the comments during an Upper House session on Dec. 3 in response to a question about two local elections held in November.

In the Hyogo gubernatorial election and the Nagoya mayoral election, some candidates found themselves the targets of spurious comments that spread like wildfire on social media.

In Hyogo, Motohiko Saito’s re-election as governor came down in part to “cheerleading” by Takashi Tachibana, head a political organization opposed to Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK), who had no intention to win himself.

Tachibana was widely criticized for waging “two-horsepower campaigning.”

In her question to Murakami, Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, warned against the possibility of multiple candidates either backing someone in the poll or doing their level best to trip them up.

In his response, Murakami referred to a clause in the Public Offices Election Law that imposes penalties for publicizing false information about candidates running in elections.

“It also covers postings on the internet, including social media,” he said.

Murakami said a candidate campaigning on behalf of someone else can constitute a violation of the Public Offices Election Law depending on how the campaigning is conducted.

The law limits the number of posters or speakers a candidate is allowed to use, for example.

Murakami said a decision on whether a particular case contravenes a provision in the Public Offices Election Law must be based on fact.

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