In the case of the abandonment of a baby boy in Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture, the father, Yuki Adachi (37), was arrested. This case attracted significant public attention from the start and was frequently discussed in casual conversation. Of course, I knew about the case, but I wasn’t paying close attention; I only skimmed the newspaper articles. From the beginning, the father was considered suspicious, and many people viewed him with suspicion.

The other day, at a drinking party with friends and acquaintances, the case came up in conversation. Someone said, “That father is apparently his stepfather and Chinese,” and someone else chimed in, “No, he seems to be Taiwanese.” I observed this exchange and blindly accepted it, thinking, “Oh, really? He’s a foreigner?”

However, I later learned from the newspaper that all of that information was false. Apparently, the hoax had spread on social media like X and was being presented as truth.

I secretly blushed with embarrassment and deeply regretted my actions. I felt ashamed of myself for blindly believing a hoax without questioning the exchanges between friends and acquaintances, and without verifying the credibility of the information.
“Although it was a story about an incident that didn’t directly concern me, so it didn’t escalate into anything serious, if this had been a con artist’s smooth talk, I could have suffered terrible losses.” The thought of that sent shivers down my spine.
I had been overconfident in my information literacy. Because I work in a field that deals with information, I was arrogant enough to think that my information literacy couldn’t be low. This overconfidence and arrogance backfired, and I ended up believing a hoax.

If something seems suspicious, I should first take a deep breath and investigate thoroughly. I’m reminding myself of this habit these days. However, we live in an information age, overflowing with all sorts of information. Once you start doubting, there’s no end to it. It sounds like an excuse, but drawing the line between doubt and belief is extremely difficult. It’s a world full of endless struggles. (Kei Kitajima)

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI