TOKYO: With false information about a new type of coronavirus believed to be behind a pneumonia outbreak in China spreading on social media, Japanese experts are calling on people not to circulate rumors.

Around Friday, a rumor spread on Twitter that a Chinese tourist who might be infected with the new coronavirus was at large after entering Japan through Kansai International Airport.

The operator of the airport in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, rushed to stamp out the rumor, calling for people to be "cautious about uncertain information."

In Hakone, a hot spring resort area in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, a snack shop owner put up a poster on the store front saying things such as, "Entry of Chinese people is prohibited," and "We don't want them to spread the virus."

After facing a backlash, the owner apologized, saying, "I went too far."

On the internet, there are posts calling for banning Chinese people from entering Japan.

A 36-year-old man from Fujian Province in China who works in Chinatown in the western Japan city of Kobe expressed concern about such posts while showing some understanding.

 "If I put myself in their shoes, I can understand their feelings, but they are wrong from the perspective of common sense," the man said.

Hiroyuki Fujishiro, professor of social media at Hosei University in Tokyo, said, "Rumors about matters that are important and about which not much is known spread fast."

"It's crucial not to spread information if it's uncertain whether it's true or not," Fujishiro said.

Kenta Yamada, professor of speech law at Senshu University in Tokyo, said barring Chinese people from stores due to their nationality is "racial discrimination and an overreaction."

"Public institutions should swiftly disseminate correct information, and the media should report it accurately" in order to assuage people's anxieties, Yamada said.

JIJI Press