The following is from an article by Shohei Osawa, CEO of "Daisy," a former associate professor at the University of Tokyo, titled "The flag is freedom and realism, Japan's first conservative social networking service SAKURA," which appeared in the monthly magazine WiLL on November 26.
It is a must-read for the Japanese people and people around the world.
The emphasis in the text is mine, except for the headline.
A new media to counter biased mass media and dictatorial social networking sites has been born.The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Facebook = Communist State
SAKURA, which advocates freedom and pragmatism, offers an unprecedented system.
When I thought about why suppression of speech occurs on social networking sites, I realized that there is a problem with the business model.
Existing social networking services rely on advertising revenue for most of their sales.
For example, Facebook's annual sales are about 7 trillion yen, of which 98% is advertising revenue (FY2019).
In other words, there is a dictatorship of advertisers.
Remarks that are inconvenient for the advertiser will be deleted and may be deleted if the left-wing forces complain to the advertiser, "Are you advertising on SNS that neglects such posts!".
The service is free, and at first glance, it looks idyllic.
However, those who stand up to the dictator are mercilessly purged- communism itself.
Facebook is nothing short of a communist state with a population of 3 billion, far more than even China.
SAKURA, which does not rely on advertising revenue, plans to cover its operating costs through a monthly membership fee.
A monthly membership not only ensures "freedom of expression" but also helps prevent the spread of false rumors.
Providing services for free will reduce the quality of users over time.
It can be seen clearly on Twitter.
Twitter was launched in Japan in 2008.
I am an old user who has been using it since the beginning, but back then, it was peaceful, unlike today.
It was a community where people could casually exchange information, and researchers valued it.
However, when Twitter became popular among the general public, so-called "Net right-wing" and "Left-wing" people entered the scene.
At once, the level of discussion dropped, and the discourse space became bleak.
In contrast, "SAKURA," a monthly subscription service, only attracts people who really want to discuss politics.
Constructive discussions and peaceful exchanges can be expected.
Groundbreaking "nationality authentication" system
One of the problems with Twitter is that the Chinese Communist Party is using it.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), known as the "Five Maoist Party," has been spreading discourse in Japanese that is favorable to China.
Some say that the occupation of the Capitol by Trump supporters after the US presidential election was set up by the CCP to destroy democracy in the US.
Therefore, SAKURA has decided to introduce a nationality authentication system.
Registrants are asked to submit their passports or other documents verifying their nationality, and if they are identified as Japanese, a Japanese flag will be placed next to their name.
For Americans, it will display the stars and stripes, for Chinese, the five-star red flag, and for Koreans, the Taegukgi.
This way, you will know who is speaking and in what capacity.
Nationality verification is not compulsory.
However, if you leave your nationality unknown, other users will not listen to you.
"SAKURA" will guide the fact check by AI and virtual currency that can use in SNS.
The goal is to create a system where those who spread falsehoods will lose, and those who support the facts will gain.
What does this mean?
On Twitter and Facebook, you can "like" posts that you agree with.
In contrast, on SAKURA, there are two types of "likes": "good" and "not good."
Half of the users press Good, and the others push the Not Good button for news articles.
A few days later, the news report turned out to be a fake. Then, those who clicked on the Not Good button would receive virtual currency to use within the social network as a "reward" for seeing through the fake.
If 80% of the articles press "Good" and 20% press "Not good," then 20% who find out the truth will get virtual currency with high odds.
What would happen then?
There is a game-like element, but we can improve the users' information literacy through the motivation to increase the virtual currency.
We don't hire Chinese people.
Although I created a conservative social network, I don't consider myself a conservative.
I am a science-oriented person at heart, so I have not studied Japanese history or culture, nor am I particularly patriotic.
Still, from the standpoint of realism, I wanted to rescue the weak = conservatives in the speech space.
Two years ago, I caused a firestorm when I said, "We don't hire Chinese people.
Having hired Chinese staff in the past, I have found them more lax than Japanese and incapable of serious discussion.
There was no discriminatory intent in the statement, "We don't hire Chinese."
In the first place, it is up to the manager to decide who to hire or not to hire.
Nevertheless, the University of Tokyo, to which I belong, was flooded with complaints, and I lost my position as a specially appointed associate professor.
At that time, I experienced firsthand the horror and unreasonableness of the suppression of speech by left-wing liberals.
Over the past year, the Science Council of Japan has become a hot topic, and the "redness" of academism has attracted attention.
In particular, the University of Tokyo is often treated as a "leftist stronghold."
However, many students and professors at The University of Tokyo are liberal haters like myself.
It is because leftists are "anti-science."
In a religious trial in the Middle Ages, Galileo Galilei, who advocated the geocentric theory, was denounced by the church.
In the same way, liberals have labeled research that is inconvenient for them as "military research" and has hindered the development of technology in Japan.
We immerse ourselves in research only when there is peace and stability in our daily lives.
Nevertheless, some humanities professors are shouting for a communist revolution.
It is nothing more than a nuisance to most serious scholars and students.
Data = Justice
In addition to researchers, many venture capitalists are conservative.
In a capitalist society where merit is the only thing that counts, results are everything.
The unrealistic ideals held by liberals are just a hindrance to running a company.
In particular, managers like myself with a science background live in a world where data = justice.
Hence, we can see through the contradictions of the left in an instant.
A feminist who treats Japan as a "misogyny society" but does not say anything about human rights issues in China.
Constitutionalists shout that the Abe administration will start a war by revising Article 9 of the Constitution but are silent on China's military expansion.
Environmentalists who oppose nuclear power plants while calling for C02 reduction.
The sciences can see through all of their logical fallacies.
When I first announced the establishment of a conservative social network, I received more than 10,000 voices of support.
Many Japanese people are fed up with the speech space controlled by the liberal left.
If you are interested in joining SAKURA, which was created for those who love freedom and truth, please do so!Data = Justice
In addition to researchers, many venture capitalists are conservative.
In a capitalist society where merit is the only thing that counts, results are everything.
The unrealistic ideals held by liberals are just a hindrance to running a company.
In particular, managers like myself with a science background live in a world where data = justice.
Hence, we can see through the contradictions of the left in an instant.
A feminist who treats Japan as a "misogyny society" but does not say anything about human rights issues in China.
Constitutionalists shout that the Abe administration will start a war by revising Article 9 of the Constitution but are silent on China's military expansion.
Environmentalists who oppose nuclear power plants while calling for C02 reduction.
The sciences can see through all of their logical fallacies.
When I first announced the establishment of a conservative social network, I received more than 10,000 voices of support.
Many Japanese people are fed up with the speech space controlled by the liberal left.
If you are interested in joining SAKURA, which was created for those who love freedom and truth, please do so!
