研究人员警告称，日本正面临被卷入关于外国犯罪的网络虚假信息漩涡的风险，这些信息正在助长排外情绪，并正中极右翼势力的下怀。
Japan risks being pulled into a spiral of online disinformation about foreign crime that is stoking xenophobia and playing into the hands of the far-right, researchers warn.
据报道，这一趋势正在加深日本社会内部的分歧，并形成了一个专家所称难以打破的反馈循环。
The trend is reportedly deepening divisions within Japanese society and creating a feedback loop that experts say will be difficult to break.
今年8月，受政府委托负责打击网络虚假信息的东京网络安全公司Constella Security Japan，为官员和媒体举办了一场网络研讨会，主题是针对外国居民的假新闻。
In August, Constella Security Japan, a Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm commissioned by the government to counter online disinformation, hosted a webinar for officials and media on fake news targeting foreign residents.
在重点讨论的案例中，包括标题为“外国人盗窃金属”和“从铁轨上偷窃金属”的病毒式社交媒体短片，这些视频声称展示了移民切割铁路电缆的画面。据共同社报道，截至9月中旬，这些视频在各大平台上的浏览量已累计达到约430万次。
Among the cases highlighted were viral social media clips titled “metal theft by foreigners” and “stealing metal from railway tracks” claiming to show migrants cutting railway cables. The videos had racked up roughly 4.3 million views across various platforms by mid-September, Kyodo News reported.
Constella已证实这些视频经过了篡改。原始素材最早于去年8月以阿拉伯语出现在社交媒体上。今年3月，视频中的阿拉伯语被替换为日语字幕，随后在当地重新传播，引发了网络上针对外国居民的强烈抵制。
Constella has confirmed the clips were manipulated. The original footage first appeared on social media in Arabic in August last year. In March, the Arabic text was replaced with Japanese subtitles before the clip was recirculated locally, triggering a backlash online against foreign residents.
研究日本穆斯林社区的庆应义塾大学副教授野中叶表示：“这类事情可能会造成极大的破坏。”
“This sort of thing can be extremely damaging,” said Yo Nonaka, an associate professor at Keio University who studies Muslim communities in Japan.
她说：“社交媒体上的谣言和假新闻被刻意设计成展示外国人做坏事的样子，这……使得日本民众更难接纳他们融入社会。”野中表示，右翼社交媒体网站和政党之间相互利用。
“Rumours and fake news on social media are deliberately designed to show foreigners doing wrong, and that … makes it much harder for Japanese people to accept them into society,” she said. Right-wing social media sites and political parties fed off each other, Nonaka said.
她说：“那些为了点击量而散布假新闻的网红正在推动日本社会进一步向右转。随后，极右翼政党再利用这些假新闻来争取更多选民。”这一策略似乎正在奏效。
“Influencers who want to spread fake news for clicks are helping to move Japanese society further to the right,” she said. “Far-right parties then spread the fake news to get more voters.”
8月，当有报道称外国人从农民的田地里偷窃金属水管时，网上的评论者们纷纷发文称这是一种“严重的犯罪行为”，并指出“在外国人口如此众多的情况下，这种事情几乎是前所未闻的”。
The tactic appears to be working. In August, online commenters responded to reports of foreign nationals allegedly stealing metal taps from farmers’ fields with posts calling it “a serious crime” that was almost unheard of “before there were this many foreigners”.
“日本简直是在任由罪犯入境，然后对他们放任不管，”另一位网友写道，“这太荒谬了。”
“The country just lets in criminals and basically leaves them to their own devices,” wrote another. “That’s ridiculous.”
北海道文京大学传播与媒体学教授渡边诚表示，在当前紧张局势加剧的背景下，这些虚假报道进一步加剧了人们的不信任情绪。
Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communications and media at Hokkaido Bunkyo University, said false reports fuelled distrust at a time of rising tensions.
“这类帖子给所有外国人贴上了负面的标签，这是不对的；而这些负面标签随后被一些主要围绕这一议题开展政治活动的政党所利用，”渡边诚说。
“It is wrong that posts like these give a blanket negative image of all foreigners in Japan … that is then being used as a political tool by parties that campaign primarily on this issue,” he said.
“这些批评其实基于谎言，我很奇怪为什么更多的日本人没有意识到这一点，”渡边诚补充道。他指出，这种日益加剧的敌意在其他地方也有类似的表现——比如在美国唐纳德·特朗普执政期间、在英国、法国和意大利极右翼政党的崛起，以及德国极右翼政党AfD在最近选举中的胜利。
“These are criticisms based on lies and I wonder why more Japanese do not realise that.”Watanabe said the rising hostility echoed sentiments elsewhere, notably in the United States under President Donald Trump, in the rise of far-right political parties in the UK, France and Italy, and in recent electoral victories by the far-right AfD party in Germany.
“不幸的是，由于日本人口持续减少，该国迫切需要更多劳动力；日元也在贬值，越南等地的就业机会也比以前更多了。因此，将所有外国人视为罪犯只会促使他们另寻工作机会，”渡边诚说。
“The unfortunate thing is that Japan is desperate for more workers as the population continues to fall. The yen is weakening and there are more jobs in places like Vietnam than before, so treating all foreigners like criminals is only going to convince them to find work elsewhere,” he said. “Fake news is only going to hurt us by damaging our economy over the long term.”
“从长远来看，虚假新闻只会通过损害经济来伤害我们自己，”在横滨经营进出口业务的澳大利亚人克里斯·邓恩（Chris Dunn）表示。他已在日本生活了37年，他认为虽然确实存在外国人犯罪的现象并引发了媒体的广泛关注，但这种行为需要被客观看待。
Chris Dunn, an Australian import-export business owner in Yokohama who has lived in Japan for 37 years, said that while crime by foreign nationals did occur and attracted intense media scrutiny, it needed to be put into perspective. He said he could “completely understand” that Japanese people did not want foreigners coming to the country to commit crimes.
“我完全理解日本人不希望外国人来到日本犯罪，”他说，“但日本人自己也会违法。我希望能够找到一种让双方都满意的平衡点。”不过，这样的平衡是否真的能够实现，还有待观察。
“But Japanese [people] break the law as well. What I hope is that a balance can be achieved that keeps both sides happy.”Whether such a balance can be reached remains to be seen.
官方评论只会加剧敌意。7月，负责外籍人士政策的官员小野田纪美声称，日本监狱中四分之一的囚犯是外国人。
Official comments have only added to the hostility. In July, Kimi Onoda, minister in charge of policies on foreign nationals, claimed that one in four inmates in Japanese prisons was foreign.
然而，这一数字仅指东京府中监狱的情况，该监狱主要关押男性外籍囚犯。从全国范围来看，外籍人士仅占监狱总人口的6.6%。尽管如此，这位官员的言论还是在网上引发了一波批评浪潮。
However, the figure only referred to Tokyo’s Fuchu Prison, which mainly holds male foreign inmates. Nationwide, foreign nationals account for just 6.6 per cent of the prison population. The minister’s remark nonetheless triggered a wave of online criticism.
“直白地说，如果我们不允许外国人入境，外国人犯罪就不会发生，”一条在线评论这样写道，并将此问题归咎于日本“松懈的法律体系”。
“To put it bluntly, if we didn’t allow foreigners to enter the country, crimes committed by foreigners could not occur,” read one online comment that blamed Japan’s “lax legal system” for the issue.
“我个人认为，外国人的总人口比例应该在2%左右——目前约为3.5%。我觉得这太多了……目标应该是接近零。”朱利安·赖亚尔（Julian Ryall）报道
“Personally, I think the total population of foreigners should be around 2 per cent – currently, it is around 3.5 per cent. I feel that’s a lot … and the goal should be almost zero.”By Julian Ryall