Unconfirmed Information on Ofunato Wildfire Spreads on Social Media; Officials, Experts Warn Users to Take Caution

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:08 JST, March 3, 2025

Unconfirmed information about the ongoing forest fires in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, has spread on social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter, prompting police to urge caution.

On Thursday, an anonymous person claiming to be connected to firefighting efforts posted a message on X reading, “These can’t be natural fires,” along with hashtags such as “#Energy weapon.” This post has more than 1.3 million views.

“The city is hiding the truth,” said a 58-year-old man who had evacuated to a shelter in Ofunato, after viewing posts that said things such as “The forest fires were caused by leakage of electricity from solar panels.”

Information whose authenticity is unknown can easily become widespread during times of disaster. Misinformation was rampant when California was engulfed by wildfires in January, as well as when the Noto Peninsula was hit by a powerful earthquake last year.

“It’s a given that there are floods of false information on the internet. Don’t be so quick to believe everything you read,” said Daisuke Furuta, 47, editor-in-chief of the Japan Fact Check Center, which investigates uncertain information.

Posting unconfirmed information can sometimes hinder firefighting and rescue efforts. Given that, a prefectural police official said, “We want those who send information to be careful as well.”