This section describes the dilemma faced when protesting inaccurate media coverage risks being labeled as “pressure” or “suppression.”
After leaving government office, the author was finally able to challenge misinformation, leading to a televised apology.

I personally wished to confront thoroughly any outrageous falsehoods or manipulative impressions.
2018-01-30.
The following continues from the previous section.
Turning protests into “pressure.”
I personally wanted to confront head-on the extremely outrageous fabrications and impression manipulation, but during my time as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, I was unable to protest against media coverage.
If I protested, it would immediately be reframed as pressure, and a new label of “suppression of speech” would be attached.
Moreover, even if I protested matters concerning myself, I believed it would only add fuel to the fire and further inflame the situation.
Yet if I remained silent, I would be told, “He is running away,” or “If he has nothing to hide, he should be able to explain.”
It was truly frustrating and deeply unpleasant.
Now that I have left the government and hold a party position, I am able to point out problems in the media—whether on television, in newspapers, magazines, or online programs.
Indeed, in August 2017, soon after leaving my government post, I lodged a protest against a TV Asahi program titled “Good Morning,” and the program later broadcast an apology.
The protest concerned the following comment made by Soichiro Tahara on the August 4 broadcast of that program.
“Hagiuda Koichi has been made Acting Secretary-General. I think that ruins everything. Completely ruins everything. Hagiuda Koichi is, so to speak, the person most responsible for the Kake Gakuen issue.”
As those who have read this far will understand, the claim that “Hagiuda is the person most responsible for the Kake Gakuen issue” is entirely false.
When I lodged a protest, on August 7 the program issued an on-air apology, stating, “Although it was Mr. Tahara’s opinion, the comment that he was ‘the person most responsible for the Kake Gakuen issue’ was one-sided and lacked accuracy.”
To be continued.