Japan's Security / Peace & Stability of the International Community

As geopolitical competition intensifies, international information warfare in the cognitive domain through information manipulation, including spread of disinformation, is a constant occurrence, as have been particularly conspicuous over the situation in Ukraine and Israel / Palestine. Foreign information manipulation, in which state and non-state actors deliberately spread disinformation and / or narratives to undermine confidence in Japan's policies or to impede democratic processes and international cooperation, is becoming increasingly important to address.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is aware of this and, based on the National Security Strategy, is steadily strengthening its information gathering, analysis and communication capabilities in response to information warfare through the cooperation of its information, policy and communication divisions. Also, in responding to foreign information manipulation, resilience of the society, including literacy of people, media, think tanks and NGOs, is extremely important.
Based on the understanding that countries sharing the same concerns over foreign information manipulation should take concerted action, in the G7, through issuance of statements on the leaders’ and foreign ministers’ level as well as the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) (PDF) , we are advancing efforts towards steadily strengthening capabilities to make coordinated response to foreign information manipulation, and through bilateral consultations, we have been holding discussions on information manipulation, and been promoting cooperation with other countries and regions that share the same values.