A Japanese journalist is in trouble after sending explicit pictures in a group chat.
The journalist known to be in his forties posted an image of his genitals on a forum set up by the Thai Foreign Ministry for the foreign journalists in the region. The Ministry asked an explanation for the immoral picture that appeared on a mobile messaging app Line and warned of the possible consequences.
Japan-based broadcaster TV Asahi apologized on Saturday for the alleged actions committed by its Bangkok bureau chief. A representative of the channel said the unnamed employee has been fired from the position due to his extremely inappropriate behavior.
“We deeply apologies to the Thai foreign ministry and other concerned people,” spokesman said. “The journalist had been seriously urged to reflect on the incident,” the representative added.
According to the Japanese media, the bureau chief meant to forward the pictures to a female acquaintance in Bangkok but instead uploaded it via Line app to about 150 journalists on a thread discussing the release of U.S human trafficking report on Monday. He left the blog immediately after the incident, prompting a warning that actions will be taken against the unusual post.
“May we remind you that this [forum] is for official purposes. Actions will be taken,” the ministry official said. “Just leaving the group does not mean this action won’t have consequences.”
Rise in cases of “sexting” or sending sexually explicit images by mobile phone have been reported in the past few years due to the prevalence of smart phones and other devices.
The best know incident of sexting happened in 2011 when a former congressman Anthony Weiner posted a sexually explicit picture on Twitter. After several days of denying, he admitted that he exchanged photos of such nature with a number of women over the last three years. Due to his sexting scandal, he resigned from the Congress a month after his confession. IMAGE/skynews
