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Has Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fallen for one of those “Facebook to start charging” hoaxes?
Abe found himself the butt of the joke in the Diet last week after slipping up on the subject of social media. The prime minister proudly told the House of Councillors on March 18 that of course, he pays his Facebook and Twitter membership fees.
When Democratic Party politician Tsutomu Okubo asked Abe the question in an exchange during a budget meeting, he was clearly hoping to catch him out. And he succeeded.
Okubo first asked if the prime minister operates his social media accounts himself, to which Abe stated that he has help from staff, but the content of the tweets is all him. “My personal account, that one’s run by myself and my staff, basically I decide what we’re going to post about,” he told the assembly.
Next, Okubo asked with a cheeky smirk on his face: “And have you ever paid Twitter and Facebook service fees?”
He must have been delighted when the prime minister walked right into his trap, replying that yes, of course he pays his fees.
Like many world leaders, Abe has two sets of social media accounts, one under his own name, and an official account of the administration of the prime minister (the Kantei). He told the assembly that the fees on personal accounts are the responsibility of the individual:
“Of course, I pay my own fees for my personal social media accounts. But as for the Kantei accounts [the office of the PM], that’s paid for by the Kantei.”
Smiling, Okubo went on to explain what every schoolchild in this day and age knows: that Facebook and Twitter are free to use. For everyone. When he continued to poke the prime minister, asking, “Who are you paying these fees to, then?” there was audible laughter around the room.
Abe rose again to counter with: “I don’t actually know about the details of how it works. I decide the content of the posts and my staff do the rest. I think that’s to be expected really.”
Which seems like a totally fair point to us. We’re sure the prime minister has better things to do with his time than be messing about with his smartphone all day.
Source: Livedoor
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© Japan Today
14 Comments
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JohnDigsJapan
Wants to be hip but ends up being square....
oikawa
Does he pay his NHK fee??
Sensato
This whole interchange between Okubo and Abe took place during an upper house budget meeting. In this particular session Abe was being questioned over prime minister's office (Kantei) use of taxpayer funds.
Here is the footage from that budget meeting. The interaction between Okubo and Abe referred to in this takes place beginning at the 13'40" mark (in Japanese): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsVaPnaahkM
gogogo
So he just lied to everyone
cevin7
For official institutes, companies etc., getting an account on a SNS costs money, right?
Illyas
@Sensato
Never pass up a chance to bash Abe, huh? I can't wait until you're old one day and don't understand how all the latest technology functions. Maybe somebody will get to ask you a gotcha question then and prey on your ignorance. Because really, a deep understanding of a foreign 140-character messaging service is necessary for the job of Prime Minister.
Abe bashing in the comments has really gotten out of hand. I guess a lot of expats get rather upset when they come to a country that is still traditionally conservative after living in progressive dystopias their whole lives.
turbotsat
There are social media and online newspapers with paid subscriptions for premium service, such as LinkedIn.
So Abe's response is more in the way of a typo.
And if he doesn't handle it himself, who cares?
Does Japanese public want the PM to handle millions of incoming tweets on his own? On whose dime? Theirs? Didn't they elect him to do something else with his time?
ClippetyClop
I'm surprised to didn't label Okubo as, "despicable".
CGB Spender
Sure, if he had time to care about dealing with the technical fluff of Twitter and Facebook he would have answered that there is no fee. But as a PM you're busy with more important tasks than that.
Christopher Glen
It just shows you how much attention he actually pays to his facebook page
nath
How stupid can you get....
Bernd Laurent
I think a prime minister should have better things to do than twittering and facebooking.
darnname
Actually, it would be better if all politicians spent all of their time on Facebook and Twitter. It would give them less time to screw up the world.