43 Pct Used Social Media, Video Sites for Voting Decisions: Exit Poll

Tokyo, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)–A Jiji Press exit poll has found that 42.7 pct of respondents used information on social media and video-sharing sites when deciding which party to vote for in Japan’s House of Representatives election Sunday. The proportion fell 4.2 percentage points from last July’s House of Councillors election. Meanwhile, respondents who did not use such services very much or at all totaled 53.3 pct, up 3.3 points. Of those who relied on information from social media and video-sharing sites, 37.9 pct voted for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, followed by the Democratic Party for the People at 11.9 pct and Sanseito at 10.6 pct. The Centrist Reform Alliance won the votes of 8.9 pct of such voters, the Japan Innovation Party 8.4 pct, Team Mirai 7.7 pct, and the Conservative Party of Japan 4.9 pct. Of those who did not use the services very much or at all, 38.8 pct voted for the LDP, 20.8 pct for the Centrist Reform Alliance, 8.7 pct for the JIP, and 8.6 pct for the DPFP. In the latest general election, many parties utilized online advertisements. An ad video uploaded to YouTube by the LDP garnered more than 150 million views. A large number of videos created with generative artificial intelligence tools were spread online. Voters seem to have grown somewhat cautious over the plethora of information. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]