Misleading: A photo showing Carrie Lam on her mobile phone was taken before the Japanese emperor enthronement ceremony began
By Sakina Abidi, Whitney Liu, Skylar Li and Yan Chiu
An image depicting Chief Executive Carrie Lam using her mobile phone during the enthronement of the Japanese Emperor was shared and reposted on different social media platforms on Tuesday.
A Facebook post by 傑出關公災難, for example, had 4,100 reactions, 289 comments and 1,870 shares within a few hours. The caption in Chinese translates to “Carrie Lam has been captured playing on her mobile phone live. Japanese hate people who are disrespectful during a formal occasion [被人影到你玩電話⋯ 日本人最討厭唔尊重場合嘅人]”
The claim is misleading. The image is a screencap from TV Tokyo’s broadcast of the event but was taken before the ceremony began while dignitaries and heads of state were still arriving.
The image seems to have been taken from the TV station’s livestream on YouTube as Lam on her phone can be seen from 48:16 to 48:32 in the bottom right corner of the screen.
The same livestream shows someone being seated next to her at 1:03:22. It is clear that people are still arriving and the room is being filled. Other guests are also seen using their phones at 1:04:25 and 1:08:43 and 1:22:50.
TV Tokyo has a second livestream of the actual ceremony that started about an hour later, showing Lam at 14:39 with the seats in front of her all filled.
The misleading claims have been shared on Reddit by u/mikechowdiv in r/Hong Kong with the title “Carrie Lam busy playing her phone during the Japanese Emperor’s enthronement ceremony.”
In a tweet, Demosistō party member Agnes Chow Ting shared the photo with the caption [香港行政長官発見], which translates to “Hong Kong Chief Executive has been spotted/Here comes Hong Kong Chief Executive.”
Apple Daily News repeated the misleading claim directly in a headline, claiming she was playing with her phone during the ceremony.
The article also said in Chinese, “Japanese Emperor Naruhito has completed the Imperial Enthronement Ceremony this afternoon. About 2,000 guests including Carrie Lam has attended the ceremony. However, Carrie Lam has been captured using her phone during the ceremony by a local TV station, which shows a lack of respect for the occasion [日本天皇德仁完成「即位禮正殿之儀」，今午站上「高御座」宣告即位，在場約2000名國內外賓客包括香港特首林鄭月娥也在場見證，但她被當地電視台拍到在觀禮期間玩手機，對場合有欠尊重].”
Disclaimer: This is a student work. Although JMSC faculty members have done everything possible to verify its accuracy, we cannot guarantee there are no mistakes. If you notice an error or have any questions, please email us at contact@annieasia.org.
