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, 2021.
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 annotations below the apostrophe are mine.
The annotations below the apostrophe are mine.
Lies or Truth?
The past year has been a turning point for the media.
It all started with the U.S. presidential election.
In response to the "anti-Trump" movement in Existing newspapers and TV, Trump supporters launched a "pro-Trump, anti-Biden" campaign, mainly on the Internet.
As you know, the presidential election ended with Trump's defeat. However, even after the polls closed, there was still a simmering suspicion that the Biden campaign manipulated the vote, the so-called "rigged election."
Amid this situation, Trump's social networking accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube), which he had been insisting on allegedly rigging the election, were suddenly frozen by the companies running them for "sending out false rumors."
The social network account of the incumbent president of the United States was frozen by a private company dependent on Chinese capital.
And this was pursuing allegations surrounding the presidential election.
At the time, this event caused a stir around the world as an unprecedented crisis in democracy.
This chaos soon posed two challenges to social media.
First, how should the truthfulness of information, such as "lie or truth," be judged?
The second is how much freedom of expression should be allowed.
Political ideology makes these two questions even more difficult to answer.
For example, there is no doubt that the Asahi Shimbun's coverage of the comfort women is a "fabrication," a "lie," and a "hoax.
Because it reported something that "did not exist" as "did exist."
What about the statement that "President Trump is the greatest politician of all time"?
Trump supporters will nod their heads, and anti-Trumpers will argue desperately.
What is even more difficult to judge are "racist statements."
The receiver can interpret what is and what is not discriminatory in many ways.
In a society where political correctness is widespread, it is not uncommon to be labeled as "xenophobic" just for speaking about patriotism.
Depending on each person's position and ideology, what is accurate or false changes.
In informatics, these ambiguous concepts are collectively called "culture."
Since suppression of political statements would lead to the denial of culture, we need to be highly cautious.
However, Twitter and Facebook succumbed to some pressure and used the "forbidden" method.
As a result, they have caused a "political divide" in American society and worldwide.
Conservative SNS "SAKURA"
Some people may think, "Then why don't we create a new social network for conservatives?"
But unfortunately, it is not easy to create a media where conservatives can speak freely and where fakes do not spread to everyone's satisfaction.
Anyone can create a system with social networking service functions, but it is challenging to establish a single "culture" of "conservatism" in it.
For people who are used to newspapers and television, the concept of "social networking" that has suddenly appeared in the last 20 years may seem advanced and new.
The sound of the word "social" may even make you feel that you can break free from the centralized and dictatorial control of the mass media.
But these are just illusions.
The reality of social networking is not so different from the corruption of old media.
Like newspapers, they are censored by desks, and like television, they have corporate sponsors.
Twitter, which appeared in 2006, was a comfortable space for conservatives in its early days, but it became "communismized" in less than a decade.
It became apparent in the U.S. presidential election last year, which I mentioned at the beginning of this article.
In short, as long as the media, whether old or social, is manually fact-checked by human beings, there is no escaping the curse of left-wing liberals.
As a former social informatics teacher at the University of Tokyo, I realized that I could use my company's A.I. to solve the problems that conservatives were facing in the media if someone else, such as a machine, could do this fact-checking for them.
I then decided to launch Japan's first conservative social networking service, SAKURA, and in December 2020, just after the U.S. presidential election, I appealed to my followers on Twitter for funding.
More than 10,000 conservatives, who were dissatisfied with the current social media system, agreed.
In less than a week, it raised 20 million yen to fund the development.
The decision-making process of the conservative social networking service is not mine alone but is entirely determined by the votes of the crowdfunding supporters (called "participating members").
In fact, the name "SAKURA" was also decided by vote.
The name "SAKURA" expresses the idea of cherishing the beauty of Japan and the spirit of Yamato, symbolized by the poem by Norinaga Motoori, "If I am asked about the meaning of Yamato-Gokoro, I will answer it is the blossoms of yamazakura (mountain cherry trees) shining in the rising sun."
*Norinaga Motoori, a scholar of ancient Japanese thought and culture, wrote the poem 'What is Japanese spirit? It is Yamazakura blossoms in the morning sun' as the concrete example of 'Mono no aware' (graceful, tasteful, sad feeling).*
Then, in September 2021, the long-awaited test version went into operation.
Although it is still in the test stage, it has already formed a conservative culture different from the existing SNS.
The volume zone of users is men in their 40s.
Shortly after that, in the U.S., Trump announced the establishment of the SNS "Truth Social."
It can't be a coincidence that a "social networking service for conservatives" was established in Japan and the U.S. at about the same time.
When establishing SAKURA, the first thing I thought about was, "What is conservatism?
After a series of discussions with 500 suffragists, the core of our crowdfunding supporters, we came up with the answers "freedom" and "realism.
Today, liberalism has become a religion in the Japanese speech space.
They are tainted with "peace idiots" on security and hold unrealistic gender and marital separation ideals.
As we can see from the opposition parties, the liberals are linked to communism and may threaten the lives of the Japanese people.
In such a situation, I thought that the role of conservatism should be to protect our daily peaceful life.
It is also in line with the issues of social networking sites that were exposed during the U.S. presidential election: prevention of the spread of false rumors and "freedom of expression.
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 ensures "freedom of expression" and 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.
Innovative "nationality verification" system
The Chinese Communist Party's online creation has become a problem on Twitter.
Part-time workers called the "Five-Headed Party" are spreading discourse in Japanese that is favorable to China.
Some say that the occupation of the Capitol by Trump supporters after the U.S. presidential election was set up by the Chinese Communist Party to destroy democracy in the United States.
Therefore, "SAKURA" decided to introduce a nationality authentication system.
Registrants are asked to submit their passports and other documents that verify their nationality. A Hinomaru (Japanese flag) symbol is placed next to their name if they are identified as Japanese.
If they are American, it will display the Stars and Stripes; if they are Chinese, the Five Star Red Flag; and Korean, the Taegeuk Flag.
This way, you will know who is speaking and in which capacity.
Nationality certification is not mandatory.
However, if nationality is left unknown, other users will not listen.
SAKURA" is a virtual Currency, and A.I. fact-checking will be guided.
The goal is to create a system where those who spread falsehoods lose money and those who support facts gain.
What does this mean?
On Twitter and Facebook, you can "like" posts you agree with.
In contrast, "SAKURA" has two types of "Like" and "Not Like."
Half of the users press the "Like" button for a news article, and the other half-press the "Not so good" button.
Suppose that the news report turns out to be a fake a few days later.
Then, those who click the "Like" button will be rewarded with virtual currency that can use on the social networking site as a "reward for detecting a fake."
If 80% of the participants press "Like" and 20% press "Not good" if the article is a hoax, 20% who have determined the truth will receive virtual currency with high odds.
What would happen then?
Although there is a game element, it can enhance users' information literacy through the motivation to increase their virtual currency.
"We will not hire Chinese."
I am the creator of a conservative social networking site, but I do not consider myself a "conservative.
I am a science-oriented person entirely, so I have not studied Japanese history or culture, nor am I particularly patriotic.
Still, I wanted to help the weakest conservative in the discourse space from a pragmatic standpoint.
Two years ago, I caused a firestorm when I said, "We don't hire Chinese people.
I have hired Chinese staff in the past and have found them to be lax and incapable of serious discussion compared to the Japanese.
There was no discriminatory intent in the "we don't hire Chinese" statement.
In the first place, it is up to the management to decide who to hire or not to hire.
Nevertheless, the University of Tokyo, to which he belongs, was flooded with complaints, and he was deprived of his position as a specially-appointed associate professor.
At that time, I experienced firsthand the horror and unreasonableness of the suppression of speech by leftist liberals.
Over the past year, the Science Council of Japan has become a hot topic, and the "redlining" of academia has attracted attention.
In particular, the University of Tokyo is often treated as a "stronghold of the left.
However, among the students and professors at Todai, there are many liberal haters like myself.
It is because the left is "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 Japan's technological development.
We devote ourselves to research only when there is peace and stability in our daily lives.
Despite this, some humanities professors are crying for a communist revolution.
It is nothing but a nuisance to most decent scholars and students doing proper research.
Data = Justice
Many researchers, as well as venture capitalists, are conservative.
In a capitalist society, where merit is the only way to win, results are everything.
The unrealistic ideals held by liberals are nothing more than an obstacle to running a company.
In particular, managers like myself, who have a background in science, live in a world where data = justice.
Hence, I can instantly see through the contradictions of the left.
Some Feminists treat Japan as a "society that despises women" but say nothing about human rights issues in China.
Some Constitutionalists cry that the Abe administration will start a war by revising Article 9 of the Constitution but remain silent on China's military expansion.
Environmentalists who oppose nuclear power plants while calling for C02 reduction.
The science community sees through all their logical fallacies.
When I first announced the establishment of the Conservative SNS, over 10,000 people voiced their support.
Many Japanese citizens are tired of the speech space controlled by the liberal left.
SAKURA was created for people who love freedom and truth; if you are interested, please join us!
