Kojima Productions warns the public that it would pursue a libel case against purveyors of fake news over Shinzo Abe's assassination.

Kojima Productions, the gaming development studio owned and run by video game developer Hideo Kojima, has officially responded to the spread of misinformation that involved Kojima in the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Friday. In a tweet, Kojima Productions decried fake news, saying: “[Kojima Productions] strongly condemns the spread of fake news and rumors that convey false information. We do not tolerate such libel and will consider taking legal action in some cases.”

Although at the moment Kojima Productions hasn't filed a libel case against anyone, this should serve as a warning to anyone on the internet who carelessly shares misinformation maliciously.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed last Friday while he was delivering a campaign speech in front of a crowd in Nara, Japan. After the assassination, misinformation on the internet spread that attributed images of Hideo Kojima to the perpetrator of the killings.

The true assassin of Shinzo Abe was a former Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force sailor, fashioning a home-made shotgun for the assassination. It's reported that the assassin targeted the former prime minister for his perceived links with the religious movement Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, otherwise known as the Unification Church, a Christian denomination that originated from South Korea. The assassin's mother has been confirmed by the Church as one of its members. The motivation appears to be the assassin's misgivings with the church, targeting the former Prime Minister as a perceived high-value target that the assassin thought to be part of the Church.

Shinzo Abe was rushed to the Nara Medical University Hospital, but doctors were unsuccessful in saving his life. His body was immediately sent back to Tokyo afterward, and his funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12, 2022.