CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — Combating fake news and promoting responsible online behavior, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and Probe Productions, Inc. joined forces to host Truth Navigators: Building Media Literacy in the Age of Disinformation and Misinformation, a two-day workshop on digital media literacy, combating fake news, disinformation, and misinformation in Pasay City on December 10-11.
“While we can still rely on the media or ‘yung mga journalists (the journalists) until today, until this very day, when it comes to factual information, meron tayong isang malaking problema (we have a big problem). And I call it a juggernaut that sometimes gets in the way of finding out the truth or for seeking the truth. That, my friends, is called social media. Sadly, the information we get nowadays is not always correct,” PIA Director General Katherine Chloe S. De Castro said.
She highlighted the dangers of disinformation, including its capacity to spread hate speech, provoke societal tensions, and undermine trust in democratic institutions.
“By thinking before you click, you can make more informed decisions about the content you engage with, protect your personal information, and contribute to a safer and more responsible online world,” she said.
The fight against fake news
Jen Aquino, managing director of Probe Productions, shared the organization’s evolution from pioneering documentary filmmaking to spearheading media literacy campaigns. Founded in 1987 by Cheche Lazaro, Probe has long been recognized for its commitment to credible and factual storytelling.
“PROBE has always been committed to truthful and factual storytelling. That’s why pumasok kami sa (we entered to) PROBE’s fact-checking era,” Aquino said.
Designed to address the unique needs of Filipino audiences, particularly Gen Zs and millennials, Aquino said CheckX aims to make fact-checking more engaging, accessible, and effective.
“Our fact-checking remains non-partisan and very credible. So what we did is we used our extensive collection of archives; katulad ng nasabi ko, ang probe ang may hawak ng mga resibo. So bawat fact-checking item ay may kakabit na resibo galing sa archives ng probe,” Aquino said.
(Our fact-checking remains non-partisan and highly credible. What we did was leverage our extensive collection of archives. As I mentioned, Probe holds the receipts. So every fact-checking item is backed by evidence from Probe’s archives.)
Elaborating on disinformation and misinformation, Nikko Balbedina of OnePressPH discussed the growing use of technology in communication and fabrication and the increasing prevalence of information warfare in the 21st century.
“Disinformation has been used to change what is true. You define the narrative, you change the knowledge, you confuse the people, you subvert democracy, and you win,” Balbedina said.
He also cited disinformation tactics that include astroturfing, echo chambers, and troll farms, which amplify false narratives. Balbedina stressed that raising awareness about disinformation’s methods and impacts is a critical first step, and informed citizens and a commitment to truth can dismantle its influence.
Spotting fake news
Noting that fake news could lead to a loss of trust in science, research, and media and threaten the very foundation of democracy, Voltaire Tupaz, co-founder of Fyt Media, cited ways to spot fake news.
He said to identify fake information, one can evaluate the source, read beyond the headline, verify the author, examine supporting sources, check the publication date, determine if it’s satire, recognize biases, and consult experts for clarification.
“We realize na ‘yung problema ngayon na fake information ay hindi na kaya i-solve ng media alone, ng government alone or ng isang stakeholder lang kundi ng buong society. It should be a societal intervention, dahil maraming aspeto ng buhay ng tao ang apetado ng disinformation,” Tupaz said.
(We realize that the problem of fake information today can no longer be solved by the media alone, the government alone, or a single stakeholder—it requires the involvement of the whole society. It should be a societal intervention because many aspects of people’s lives are affected by disinformation.)
The event, which gathered 73 information officers from the government and journalists from the private media, included workshops on spotting fake news and tool applications and discussions on the role of ethics in information sharing and building networks for truth. (RTP/PIA-10)
