Hideo Kojima’s sport studio has issued a response after faux posts circulated throughout social media and information retailers that misidentified Kojima because the murderer of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In a tweet, Kojima Productions says it “strongly condemns the unfold of pretend information and rumors that convey false info” and “will contemplate taking authorized motion in some instances.”
On Friday, a person shot and killed Abe throughout his speech at a political marketing campaign rally. Police captured the shooter on the scene who was later recognized as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami.
Shortly after the incident, an web troll on 4chan posted a racist picture that hyperlinks Kojima’s face with that of the shooter (through PCGamer). One other consumer replied to the put up with three extra footage of Kojima that present the Metallic Gear and Dying Stranding designer in a Soviet cap, in addition to posing with photos of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara.
French comic Georges Jordito later reshared these photos on Twitter as a part of a now-deleted “satirical” put up that stated the offender was Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda. Nevertheless, Damien Rieu, a far-right French politician related to the nation’s nationalist motion, took it significantly and tweeted out images of Kojima with textual content translated to: “The far-left kills.” As identified by Vice, the photographs have been then picked up by Greek and Iranian information retailers that mistakenly used the images of their protection of the assassination.
Greek information channel utilizing footage of Hideo Kojima carrying a Soviet ushanka, Joker t-shirt and standing subsequent to a photograph of Che Guevara – saying he’s Shinzo Abe’s murderer!? pic.twitter.com/JiwZKtA7pJ
— The Kavernacle (@TheKavernacle) July 8, 2022
Rieu has since deleted his tweet and issued an apology to Kojima, noting “I naively took a joke for info.” The Greek outlet, which included a picture of Kojima in a broadcast, took its section off of YouTube, whereas the Iranian newspaper has additionally corrected the picture it utilized in its report.