LDP Rejects Allegations of Paid Hashtag Campaign

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (68) has finally decided to resign. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election will be a full-scale contest, with voting and ballot counting scheduled for October 4 and the official announcement on September 22. Former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (69), former Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi (50), and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (64) have already declared their candidacies. Sanae Takaichi (64) and Shinjiro Koizumi (44) are also preparing to run.

Although the Ishiba Cabinet suffered three consecutive defeats—in last year’s Lower House election, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in June, and the Upper House election in July—Prime Minister Ishiba did not immediately announce his resignation even after the most recent loss. The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Mainichi Shimbun prematurely splashed headlines about his resignation on their front pages, only to later issue explanations that came off as excuses.

What led Prime Minister Ishiba to mistakenly think, “Maybe I don’t have to quit after all,” were the social media posts and demonstrations under the hashtag #IshibaDon’tQuit. Despite low approval ratings, public support oddly began to rise after the Upper House election.

Indeed, online opinion was split between resign and don’t resign.

However, the LDP would not allow him to stay. On the day before the vote signaling an early leadership election, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (76) and Shinjiro Koizumi reportedly visited Ishiba and persuaded him to step down. Before being ousted by party lawmakers, Ishiba essentially chose to “commit seppuku” politically.

Amid all this, one post on X (formerly Twitter) has drawn attention by casting doubt on the very authenticity of the #IshibaDon’tQuit movement.

“Hey, part-timer supporting Ishiba, you forgot to delete your post.”

The post included a screenshot from Instagram that read:

“I’m always moved by Mr. Ishiba’s straightforward words and actions. I truly believe Japan needs a leader like him for the future. I’ll continue to support him with all my heart!!

※1 comment = 1,000 yen (Don’t forget to delete this line).”

It’s this final line that sparked speculation the #IshibaDon’tQuit campaign might have been “staged.” In the replies to the post pointing out the “forgotten deletion,” comments included:

“So they’re even hiring part-timers now?”

“Is this from the Cabinet’s secret funds?”

But others countered:

“Come on, it’s obviously a joke.”

“No one actually believes this.”

—suggesting the supposed forgotten deletion post itself might have been fake.

When the supposedly forgotten to delete account was checked on Instagram, it no longer existed. However, searching the same username on X (formerly Twitter) showed that the account was still active, with a profile that read, “Only the Liberal Democratic Party can protect Japan!!” The account also replied to the post pointing out the forgotten line with messages such as:

“Please delete the post.”

“Please, stop this.”

A TV network reporter commented:

“It’s hard to know how much we can trust what appears on social media. This whole controversy could very well have been orchestrated by anti-LDP groups. However, back in 2021, there was a case where an account repeatedly posted slanderous comments against opposition lawmakers and media critical of the administration. Constitutional Democratic Party lawmaker Hiroyuki Konishi filed a sender information disclosure lawsuit, and disclosure was granted. It turned out the account belonged to a Tokyo-based IT company, referred to as Company D, whose main client was the LDP. Later, the Shimbun Akahata newspaper run by the Japanese Communist Party reported that the president of Company D was a relative of the LDP’s secretary-general, which became a major topic. The LDP has consistently denied indirectly instigating defamatory posts, but as a general matter, it’s safe to assume that social media manipulation to influence public opinion does exist.”

When this website directly asked the Liberal Democratic Party about the latest controversy involving alleged paid posts under the #IshibaDon’tQuit hashtag, the party responded:

“We are not aware of any such incident, and of course, we have not engaged in any kind of paid posting activity.”

Whether or not there was manipulation on social media remains unclear—but in the end, the Ishiba administration proved to be short-lived.