Japan’s financial ministry has requested that X, formerly known as Twitter, remove an account that poses as Masato Kanda, the country’s senior currency ambassador.
The senior currency diplomat of Japan, Masato Kanda, is being impersonated, and the country’s finance ministry has requested that X, formerly known as Twitter, remove the account.
The ministry issued a rare message on the social media platform in English, asking users to “please not follow the impersonation account and/or comment on the post.”
In the third-largest economy in the world’s efforts to stabilize the value of the yen, Mr. Kanda is a significant player.
Now, it seems as though the phony account has been suspended.
An inquiry for comment from the BBC was not immediately answered by X.
Among Japan’s monetary policy decision-makers, Mr. Kanda has a strong voice. The value of the yen relative to other important currencies may change as a result of his public remarks.
According to the Reuters news agency, the account, which had 550 or so followers, had not commented on the yen or the financial markets.
The account featured five entries, the most recent of which appeared to be a fake account of Mr. Kanda’s recent trip to Ukraine, according to the news source.
The Japanese Ministry of Finance said on Thursday that a fake Twitter account (Masato Kanda @Jgghkj_) pretending to be Vice Minister Kanda Masato had been verified.
The government continued by stating that it was “currently requesting that X (formerly Twitter) suspends the impersonation account.”
The account was suspended for breaking “Twitter Rules” on Friday, according to a notice posted on X.
Investors have historically purchased the yen during times of crisis because it has long been seen as a refuge currency on the international financial markets.
The value of the currency, however, has decreased recently when compared to the US dollar. This is due to the fact that the central bank of Japan has maintained its primary interest rate below zero even as central banks across the world substantially increased their interest rates.
Investors typically find a currency to be more appealing when interest rates are higher.
