The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is "monitoring social media trends" ahead of the event to "prevent the spread of flaming and fake news as well as to ensure the prompt delivery of correct information," according to THE MAINICHI. A committee representative said, "In modern society, the voices of the public can be seen. Therefore, we don't believe that we will be able to spend the next 1,000 days until the opening ceremony unscathed." The "cautious" monitoring of online activity began last summer. By entering related keywords such as "Tokyo Olympics," the committee can search content on Twitter and other platforms in real time and "grasp topics regarding the Games being discussed in numerical terms." If the use of a keyword selected by the committee reaches a set number of mentions as it spreads online, a "heads-up message" is automatically sent to personnel in charge. If criticism of the issue continues, the committee may consider posting a statement on its homepage or "take other steps to deal with the problem" (THE MAINICHI, 11/14).
