while it's good that people are calling out jp creators for supporting conspiracy theories and the such in relation to the attempted coup in the usa a while ago, i'd like to counter this idea that it's all imperialism's fault and suggest something more troubling instead

you see, while i think japanese imperialism may have played a factor into why creators may be susceptible to conspiracy theories, i don't think it is as major as the poor standards behind mass media organizations in japan and elsewhere
Nobody Cared About Reporting The Truth

in japan and many other asian countries like taiwan and indonesia, it's common to see reporters parrot trump's talking points without any criticism or self-reflection
they would translate his words and then add no commentary, giving the impression to viewers his shit is true

in fact, it's not unusual to see qanon talking points become news pieces and there's no semblance that someone even attempted fact-checking
it's just out there in the open alongside actual newsworthy events so it's p easy to imagine how someone could be confused by it

likewise, most national news pieces in the usa are World News and everyone following the news feels like they "understand" the country as if they're some expert
these "experts" don't recognize that white supremacy exists because that's rarely reported in the news

but the supersoldier antifa cult? oh boy, they know what's antifa and they're gonna talk to you about cancel culture and all that crap
don't take for granted even knowledgable people outside the usa would understand how slavery created the usa and shit like that

i do get why people are harping on japanese creators specifically though
there's intense cognitive dissonance learning your favorite creator which you adore growing up supporting antifa psyop theories
i'm as angry as most people are about these creators

and while one could argue that some creators may be excused for being ignorant, it's the fact that they are willing enough to look into these antisemitic theories and the such that cannot be used as a justification for ignorance or naivete
this is beyond forgiveness

but i think the ultra cognitive dissonance of seeing your childhood heroes support awful shit is hiding the fact that Many Countries are affected by what happened
postcolonial countries like indonesia and taiwan have folks discussing qanon on social media

the horrific truth is that what i've described about japan can apply to many places
there's nothing "particular" about japan that allow many creators to fall into this path -- everyone is doing it and getting hoodwinked by massive disinformation campaigns and grifters

i don't know what to say except white supremacy isn't much discussed in SEA, let alone japan
it seems like what happened in DC was seen as Another News Event here so unfortunately, the few people who would care about this are the ones already seeped in these conspiracy theories

and let's make it clear: very few people have the energy to follow news outside their country thanks to covid and local traumas
poor journalism, international disinformation/grifting campaigns, and covid exhaustion just make it difficult for people to follow anything in the usa

there's no doubt that imperialist cultures may have facilitated these conspiracy theories but they don't compare to these other factors esp in postcolonial countries
this grim picture suggests we're all susceptible to these conspiracy theories if we aren't careful

if we don't consider how we are not immune to propaganda and instead just believe japanese imperialism is why japanese creators are into this shit, then i feel like we're just setting ourselves up for failure...