President Duterte Declared Academic Freeze

            Yes, that’s right. The title is fake, and I just wrote it for attention. You clicked this blog because you were curious and intrigued about the topic. According to CNN Philippines, Facebook next to television is the Filipino’s top source of news. The poll they conducted (2019) found that 21 percent of Filipino adults, or an estimated 13.9 million individuals, use Facebook daily as a source of news. How much more with the rise of cases of Covid-19, where we are expected to stay at home unless essential which makes communication more likely be limited to the media specifically television and the internet. With this, the spread of fake news has been alarming. Let’s take a look of examples of fake news here in the Philippines.

POLITICS

FALSE: VP Leni Robredo ‘promised’ to step down if no Otso Diretso bet wins

 

The Philippines’ social security agency said this report about a COVID-19 benefit payment was 'fake news'

                      

Nueva Ecija governor DID NOT say Manila Bay rehab is 'alarming'

            Fact-checking and warnings of misinformation are salient and prevalent components of modern news media and political communications. While many warnings about political misinformation are valid and enable people to reject misleading information, the quality and validity of misinformation warnings can vary widely. Warnings of misinformation potentially hold other negative consequences for an informed citizenry. When the allegations of misinformation in the news article are invalid, people reject the accurate information, leading to the tainted truth effect.

 

SHOWBIZ/ ENTERTAINMENT

Report about Kris Aquino's 'death' FAKE NEWS

No, the Filipino comedian Vice Ganda has not died

  

Sharon Cuneta laughs off fake news about her being HIV-positive

 

                Announcements of individual deaths spread rapidly through social networks (Gibson, 2015), whilst public mourning around celebrity deaths are highly mediated and viral events. False announcements of death or diseases and user responses to those announcements points to the persistence and extension of established forms of misreporting or accidental reporting in legacy media, which are then taken up and amplified in the spreadable contexts of social media. Here, the affordances of social media together with the typical cycle of user responses, facilitates widespread sharing of false reports through affective participation and ‘viral performativity’ around public mourning.

 

SPORTS

SEA Games: Hotel served kikiam for breakfast

FALSE: Photo of Philippine flag used as tablecloth 'in SEA Games 2019

 

            Sports business industry is no less affected by fake news than politics is, and its spread harms everything from travel to various destinations to participation in specific sports. False news also affects the reputation of an athlete, a country, a team, etc. which could be a reason for their career to be ruined.

ACADEME

Covid-19 updates

 

De Vera did not say that “we are ready to die.”

FALSE: CHED says LET is 'toughest exam to pass'

 

            The term fake news has lost much of its meaning, but it describes a real and dangerous internet trend. Because it’s hard for many people to differentiate a real news site from a fraudulent one, they can be deceived by fabricated news stories pretending to be real. The result is that otherwise reasonable people believe lies. These trends fostering fake news are more general, though, and we need to start thinking about how it could affect different areas of our lives. This makes me worry about how it will affect the academia and how it can end up to false research.

 

MEDICAL FIELD

Clean semen: a cure for Covid-19

 

 

Misleading article posted by the Philippine News Agency about the COVID-19 during the first episode of Bulatlatan

 

        “During this coronavirus pandemic, fake news is putting lives at risk” UNESCO said. Unreliable and false information is spreading around the world to such an extent, that some commentators are now referring to the new avalanche of misinformation that’s accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘disinfodemic’. Fears are growing that this phenomenon is putting lives at risk, prompting some with symptoms to try unproven remedies in the hope of curing themselves.

 

The amount of misinformation that is spread on the web is staggering. The thing is if a lie is repeated often, people will begin to believe it is true. So how can we combat fake news?

1)     a.  Consider the journalist or media.

These days anyone can be an online journalist.  So, as you consume “news”, look at the source to determine the likelihood of truth and accuracy. Is it on a satirical website? Social media? Blog? Unless it’s from a credible news source, be weary that the information could be fake.

2)    b. Do your research.

Ninety-percent of statistics are made up.  I just made that up.  But point being, statistics are a popular way to draw in consumers and create the illusion of truth.  So, don’t take them at face value.  Check the citations and dates of research to ensure it’s from a reputable source and not outdated. For instance, a study or statistic could have been true at some point, but if it’s more than a few years old, the information could no longer be fact.

3)    c.  Find the source.

Wondering if a story, stat or claim is true?  Don’t just google to see if the information is on other sites.  Remember, once fake news is printed, it is often reshared in many other outlets to make it seem as if it is true. Sites like Snopes are excellent at setting the record straight.

 

Now that you know how to spot fake news, the only way to combat it is to be vigilant to put a stop to its recirculation.  If you see a friend sharing inaccuracies—ask them to remove their post.  Add comments to articles stating the false claims, adding a link to the accurate information. We can’t stop fake news, but we can at least do our part to keep it from being reposted or repeated.