News On Japan

Yahoo Japan releases report on post removals

Dec 23 (NHK) - Yahoo Japan has released the first report on its actions against guideline-violating posts, such as defamatory comments, in the comment section of its news site.

The firm uses artificial intelligence, in addition to human monitors, to automatically spot and delete comments that violate its rules.

The firm published the number of posts deleted and the reasons for removal for the first time in a bid to ensure transparency of its measures. This is in response to recommendations from experts, as concerns have been raised over excessive deletions.

The report says Yahoo Japan removed about 350,000 posts out of some 10.5 million in the month of March this year.

It also says that of the posts removed in the one-year period through March, 71 percent were automatically deleted by AI, while 22 percent were deleted by human patrols. Seven percent were removed by humans after being pointed out by outside parties.

Of the posts removed by humans, 65.4 percent were judged to be unpleasant, and 7.9 percent were thought to be unrelated to articles.

Of the posts deleted because they were judged to be unpleasant, 84.1 percent contained slander or excessive criticism, and 11.7 percent had ethnic slurs or hate speech.

The report says the automatic deletion by AI is based on scores given by a deep-learning model.

Professor Yamamoto Tatsuhiko of Keio University headed the expert panel that made the recommendations to Yahoo Japan.

Yamamoto said it is necessary to constantly review the post monitoring system, and to regularly study content and matters to be made transparent.

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Emperor Naruhito met with former U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in six years at the Imperial Palace on October 27th. The two exchanged greetings in English, with the Emperor saying, "I’m pleased to see you again," as he welcomed Trump to the Imperial residence around 6:30 p.m.

An elderly woman was found dead in a roadside ditch in Akita City on October 27th, with police investigating the possibility that she was attacked by a bear. A local resident discovered the woman lying face down in a drainage channel around 11 a.m. and called emergency services.

The Defense Ministry is considering deploying the Self-Defense Forces to Akita Prefecture following a series of bear attacks that have injured residents in recent weeks.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed at 50,512 yen on October 27th, surpassing the 50,000 mark for the first time in history and setting a new all-time high. The benchmark index rose 1,212 yen from the previous trading day, driven by strong gains across sectors.

McDonald's Japan announced it will phase out the use of paper straws and introduce new lids that allow customers to drink directly from the cup without a straw starting on November 19th.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A 43-year-old former employee of Tsuda University has been re-arrested by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of vandalism for spraying his bodily fluid on female students’ clothing on campus.

A 38-year-old man was arrested near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on October 24th after attacking a riot police officer with a knife, injuring the officer’s right leg.

A group in Sapporo achieved a Guinness World Record on October 25th for creating the world’s largest sentence made entirely from plastic bottle caps. The artwork, composed of around 80,000 caps, was officially recognized under the category “Largest Sentence Made from Bottle Caps.”

A Tokyo District Court has ruled that addressing a colleague using the 'chan' suffix constitutes sexual harassment, ordering a male employee to pay 220,000 yen in damages.

A 47-year-old man accused of possessing cannabis in Nagoya has been acquitted after the Nagoya High Court ruled that the procedures used to seize the evidence were illegal. The decision, handed down on October 9th, became final after prosecutors decided not to appeal.

A 38-year-old man was killed on October 24th in the village of Higashinaruse, Akita Prefecture, after attempting to rescue a couple in their seventies who were being attacked by a bear.

A memorial service marking 80 years since the end of World War II was held in Shari, a town in Hokkaido’s Shiretoko region, on October 22nd to honor those who perished in the Northern Territories and other areas.

Police in Osaka arrested a 48-year-old man on October 22nd after a tense 14-hour standoff in which he allegedly held a woman at knifepoint inside an apartment. A special tactical unit forced entry into the residence late at night, ending the standoff without injuries.