# Dappi

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{{Short description|LDP-funded smear campaign against Japan's progressives}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}{{Infobox website
| name = Dappi (@dappi2019)
| type = [Twitter](/source/Twitter) account
| language = [Japanese](/source/Japanese_language)
| owner = Employee of Ones Quest
| url = {{URL|https://twitter.com/dappi2019}}
| launch_date = June 2019
| current_status = Inactive{{Efn|The account ceased activity after retweeting [Prime Minister](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Japan) [Yoshihide Suga](/source/Yoshihide_Suga)'s tweet announcing the lifting of the [COVID-19](/source/COVID-19) [state of emergency](/source/state_of_emergency) on October 1, 2021.<ref name="buzzfeed" />}}
}}
'''Dappi''' (@dappi2019) was an [anonymous](/source/Anonymity) [Twitter](/source/Twitter) account that conducted [smear campaigns](/source/Smear_campaign) against [progressive](/source/Progressivism) [opposition parties](/source/Parliamentary_opposition) in [Japan](/source/Japan) between 2019 and 2021. During this period, the account posted highly biased tweets designed to discredit and undermine the reputation of the country's progressives while simultaneously praising the ruling [Liberal Democratic Party](/source/Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Japan)) (LDP) and [conservative](/source/Conservatism) opposition parties. While active on Twitter, Dappi [made a number of false or defamatory claims](/source/Dappi) aimed at swaying public opinion against progressive opposition parties, which led to the targeted individuals filing a lawsuit. In 2021, it was revealed that the account was operated by a company with close ties to the LDP.

== Background ==
Dappi was active on Twitter between June 2019<ref name=":0" /> and October 2021.<ref name="buzzfeed" /> During this period, the account posted over 5,000 tweets,<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Schäfer |first=Fabian |date=2022-01-15 |title=Japan's Shift to the Right: Computational Propaganda, Abe Shinzō's LDP, and Internet Right-Wingers (''Netto Uyo'') |url=https://apjjf.org/2022/2/Schfer.html |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=20 |issue=2 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> mostly praising the LDP<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2022-11-24 |title=LDP chapter paid firm sued over 'defamatory' tweet |work=[The Asahi Shimbun](/source/The_Asahi_Shimbun) |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14776254 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> and conservative opposition parties such as [Nippon Ishin no Kai](/source/Nippon_Ishin_no_Kai)<ref name="tokyo-np20220228" /> and attacking progressive opposition parties such as the [Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan](/source/Constitutional_Democratic_Party_of_Japan) (CDP)<ref name=":0">{{cite news |date=2021-10-13 |title= |script-title=ja:「Dappiのツイートは名誉毀損」立憲議員がウェブ関連会社提訴 |language=ja |trans-title=CDP members file lawsuit against web company over defamatory tweets by Dappi |newspaper=[The Asahi Shimbun](/source/The_Asahi_Shimbun) |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASPBF6G9XPBFUTIL03Q.html |accessdate=2023-06-07}}</ref><ref name="tokyo-np20220228">{{cite news |date=2022-02-28 |title= |script-title=ja:「Dappi」裁判、被告企業「ツイートは従業員が私的に投稿」と主張 今回も出廷せず |language=ja |trans-title=Dappi trial: Defendant company claims "tweets were posted privately by an employee," fails to appear in court again |newspaper=[Tokyo Shimbun](/source/Tokyo_Shimbun) |url=https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/162482 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref><ref name="tokyo-np">{{cite news |date=2021-10-13 |title= |script-title=ja:野党攻撃ツイッター「Dappi」が自民党と取引⁉ 正体はIT企業 ネット工作まん延か |language=ja |trans-title=Is the opposition-targeting Twitter account Dappi affiliated with the LDP? The truth revealed: It is an IT company involved in online manipulation |newspaper=[Tokyo Shimbun](/source/Tokyo_Shimbun) |url=https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/136538 |accessdate=2023-06-07}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news |date=2021-10-19 |title= |script-title=ja:「ネットと政治」の闇 拡散する誹謗中傷やフェイク、私たちの対処法は? |language=ja |trans-title=The dark side of the Internet and politics: How do we deal with the spread of defamation and fake news? |publisher=[Tokyo Broadcasting System](/source/Tokyo_Broadcasting_System) |url=https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye4385373.htm |accessdate=2023-06-07 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020033906/https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye4385373.htm |archivedate=2021-10-20}}</ref> and the [Japanese Communist Party](/source/Japanese_Communist_Party) (JCP)<ref name="tokyo-np20220228" /> through [false claims and defamation](/source/Dappi).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kota |first=Hatachi |date=2021-10-14 |title= |script-title=ja:「ご質問のアカウントは全く知りません」自民・小渕氏がDappiとの関係否定。法人とは「HPメンテ以外お付き合いない」 |language=ja |trans-title=LDP's Kobuchi denies any connection with Dappi: "I have no knowledge of the account" |work=[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News) |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/kotahatachi/dappi-4 |access-date=2023-06-08}}</ref> The goal of the tweets was to sway [public opinion](/source/public_opinion) against the progressives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-25 |title=Japan to crack down on stealth marketing, target all media |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14801715 |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=[The Asahi Shimbun](/source/The_Asahi_Shimbun) |publisher= |language=en |quote=... anonymous posts on a Twitter account intended to sway public opinion, such as the Dappi account assailing opposition parties{{nbsp}}...}}</ref> The account's profile read, "I love Japan. I hate the [biased mass media](/source/Media_bias)."<ref name="mainichi">{{cite news |date=2021-11-13 |title=The curious relationship between a popular pro-gov't Twitter account and Japan's LDP |language=en |work=[The Mainichi](/source/The_Mainichi) |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211113/p2a/00m/0na/030000c |accessdate=2023-06-07}}</ref> [Media outlets](/source/Mass_media) critical of the LDP were also targeted,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2021-12-03 |title= |script-title=ja:Dappiのツイート、誰が投稿? 平日に作業集中、頻出単語は... |trans-title=Dappi's tweets: who posted them? |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASPD26CY9PC8ULEI004.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=[Asahi Shimbun](/source/Asahi_Shimbun) |language=ja}}</ref> and Dappi had criticized what it perceived as biased reporting by ''[The Asahi Shimbun](/source/The_Asahi_Shimbun)'' and ''[Mainichi Shimbun](/source/Mainichi_Shimbun)'', among others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Watanabe |first=Tsuyoshi |date=2021-11-15 |title= |script-title=ja:なぜ人々は野党・マスコミ批判のSNSアカウントに惹かれる? マスメディアに代わる"疑似環境"を求めるユーザーたち |trans-title=Why are people drawn to opposition party and media–criticizing social media accounts? People seeking an alternative "virtual environment" in place of mainstream media |url=https://dot.asahi.com/aera/2021110800061.html?page=1 |magazine=[Aera](/source/Aera_(magazine)) |access-date=2023-06-08}}</ref>

While operating anonymously, Dappi amassed around 176,000 followers as of November 2021.<ref name="mainichi" /> The account was highly influential, attracting attention from members of the [National Diet](/source/National_Diet).<ref name="buzzfeed">{{cite news |author=Hatachi |first=Kota |date=2021-10-11 |title= |script-title=ja:野党批判を繰り返すアカウント「Dappi」の運営法人? 自民党支部や国会議員が取引、政治資金収支報告書などで明らかに |language=ja |trans-title=Operating entity of Dappi, the account repeatedly attacking the opposition: clear connections with LDP branches and members of the National Diet exposed in political funding reports |newspaper=[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News) |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/kotahatachi/dappi-1 |accessdate=2023-06-07}}</ref>

Almost all tweets were posted during regular [office hours](/source/Working_time), roughly between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. [JST](/source/Japan_Standard_Time), and rarely on weekends, leading to speculation that the account was not an individual activity<ref name=":3" /> and that there was a coordinated or organized effort behind it.<ref name="buzzfeed" />

In July 2020, the [Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office](/source/Cabinet_Intelligence_and_Research_Office) responded to a [freedom of information](/source/Freedom_of_information_laws_by_country) request seeking government records related to Dappi by [refusing to confirm or deny](/source/Glomar_response) the existence of such records, citing concerns that doing so could potentially "impede the effective execution" of their duties and "pose a significant risk to [national security](/source/national_security)". According to ''[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek)'', the wording of the response, which indirectly implied a connection between the account and the agency, further deepened suspicions surrounding Dappi.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Fujisaki |first=Masato |date=2021-10-16 |title= |script-title=ja:岸田首相はDappi疑惑を放置して衆院選を戦うのか |trans-title=Will Prime Minister Kishida ignore the Dappi scandal and proceed to the Lower House election? |url=https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/fujisaki/2021/10/dappi.php |department=Column |magazine=[Newsweek Japan](/source/Newsweek_Japan) |language=ja |access-date=2023-06-06}}</ref>

The account was deleted by November 3, 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |title=デマ拡散『Dappi』アカウント消える 名誉毀損訴訟で敗訴、岸田首相は調査を否定 「最後まで卑怯」の声 |url=https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/801646 |date=2023-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106121749/https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/801646 |archive-date=2023-11-06 |access-date=2023-11-06 |url-status=live |work=THE CHUNICHI SPORTS |publisher=Chunichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. |language=ja}}</ref>

== False claims and defamation ==
Dappi had been criticized for posting highly biased<ref name=":3" /> video clips that were edited out of context,<ref name="tokyo-np20220228" /> creating a false impression or misrepresentation of opposition parties and media outlets:<ref name=":4" />
* In October 2020, Dappi posted a tweet falsely claiming that an employee of the [Ministry of Finance](/source/Ministry_of_Finance_(Japan))'s Kinki Local Finance Bureau had committed [suicide](/source/suicide) after [House of Councillors](/source/House_of_Councillors) members [Hiroyuki Konishi](/source/Hiroyuki_Konishi_(politician%2C_born_1972)) and [Hideya Sugio](/source/Hideya_Sugio) from the CDP "grilled him for an hour" over a public document tampering scandal involving the government's land sale to a [nationalist](/source/Nationalism) school operator. No such meeting had taken place. Konishi and Sugio later filed a defamation lawsuit against the company behind Dappi {{See below|{{Section link||Revelation and aftermath}}}}.<ref name="mainichi" />
* During a party leaders' debate in June 2021, [Yukio Edano](/source/Yukio_Edano), the leader of the CDP, criticized [Prime Minister](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Japan) [Yoshihide Suga](/source/Yoshihide_Suga) for diverting the discussion with personal memories of the [1964 Olympics](/source/1964_Summer_Olympics). Dappi manipulated this criticism by tweeting a selectively edited video clip of the debate, in which the portion where Suga talked about the Olympics was completely removed. This manipulation falsely implied that Edano rejected discussions on [COVID-19](/source/COVID-19). ''[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News)'' conducted a [fact-check](/source/Fact-checking) and confirmed that Dappi's tweet was false.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hatachi |first=Kota |date=2021-06-10 |title= |script-title=ja:党首討論「哀れな枝野」と拡散の動画は誤り。菅首相の「東京五輪の思い出」が編集され全カットに |language=ja |trans-title=Fake video clip circulating online with caption "Pathetic Edano": Prime Minister Suga's "memories of the Tokyo Olympics" completely edited out |website=[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News) |department=Fact Check |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/kotahatachi/toshu-toron |access-date=2023-06-06}}</ref>
== Revelation and aftermath ==
In 2021, [Hiroyuki Konishi](/source/Hiroyuki_Konishi_(politician%2C_born_1972)) and [Hideya Sugio](/source/Hideya_Sugio), members of the CDP in the [House of Councillors](/source/House_of_Councillors), filed lawsuits against Twitter and an [Internet service provider](/source/Internet_service_provider) at the [Tokyo District Court](/source/Tokyo_District_Court), seeking the identity of the entity or individual responsible for [Dappi's October 2020 tweet](/source/Dappi) falsely accusing Konishi and Sugio of driving a [Ministry of Finance](/source/Ministry_of_Finance_(Japan)) employee to suicide.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-13 |title=Web firm asks court to dismiss CDP lawmakers' defamation case |work=[The Asahi Shimbun](/source/The_Asahi_Shimbun) |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14501152 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> In September, the court ruled in favor of the two lawmakers and ordered the disclosure of the requested information.<ref name="mainichi" />

The company behind the account was identified as {{Nihongo|Ones Quest|ワンズクエスト}}, an [Internet company](/source/Technology_company) headquartered in [Tokyo](/source/Tokyo).<ref name=":0" /> On October 6, they filed a lawsuit against Ones Quest at the Tokyo District Court, seeking damages for defamation.<ref name="tokyo-np" />

Ones Quest was engaged in business transactions with the LDP. According to a political income and expenditure report published by the [Tokyo Metropolitan Government](/source/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Government), the LDP's Tokyo metropolitan chapter made five payments totaling {{JPY|4.04 million}} ({{USD|29,100}}) to Ones Quest between March and August 2021. The report also shows the LDP chapter had expenditures of around {{JPY|780,000}} in 2020.<ref name=":2" /> There is speculation that Dappi was part of the LDP's efforts to manipulate public opinion online.<ref name="mainichi" /> The LDP has denied the allegations.<ref name=":1" />

Ones Quest later admitted that one of its employees was responsible for Dappi's tweets, but denied any institutional involvement in the account,<ref name="mainichi20220228">{{cite news |date=2022-02-28 |title= |script-title=ja:Dappiの議員中傷 会社側「従業員が勝手に」 地裁口頭弁論 |language=ja |trans-title=Company claims "employees acted independently" in Dappi defamation case: District Court holds oral arguments |newspaper=[Mainichi Shimbun](/source/Mainichi_Shimbun) |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220228/k00/00m/040/079000c |url-access=subscription}}</ref> claiming the tweets were the private activities of an employee and unrelated to company operations.<ref name="tokyo-np20220228" />
== See also ==

* [Fake news website](/source/Fake_news_website)
* [Internet manipulation](/source/Internet_manipulation)
* [Internet Research Agency](/source/Internet_Research_Agency)
* [Japanese nationalism](/source/Japanese_nationalism)
* {{Ill|Kawai election fraud scandal|lt=|ja|河井夫妻選挙違反事件}}
* ''[Netto-uyoku](/source/Netto-uyoku)''
* [Propaganda](/source/Propaganda)
** [State-sponsored Internet propaganda](/source/State-sponsored_Internet_propaganda)
* [Troll farm](/source/Troll_farm)

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Japanese Internet celebrities
Category:Unidentified people
Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
Category:Fake news websites
Category:Propaganda organizations
Category:Propaganda in Japan
Category:Far-right politics in Japan
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:X (social network) accounts

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dappi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dappi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dappi?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.