By Hannah Morales & Lorraine Santos
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Roughly 40 years ago, the democracy of Filipinos was at its most fragile state. News reports were restricted while newspapers and radio stations that would not conform with the government’s standards were shut down. Back then, people would have thought twice with fear and reservations before getting their hands on reliable sources. Now, in the golden age of information, every knowledge known to mankind, which was previously dreamt by our ancestors, is within our fingertips. With each click on our devices, troves of data can be viewed and accessed in search engines with just keywords and description. It is an innovation of the future that every man or woman can access information online and view the knowledge passed from one generation to another by historians to gain intelligence and be aware of the current news to know the truth.
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However, like a double-edged sword, the golden age of information that keeps the people informed seems to bring us to the age of disinformation due to this so-called “fake news” which divides people due to their perception of what is true. Let us be reminded that democracy is defined as “[the] control of an organization or group by the majority of its members”, among other definition. What happens then to the “organization or group”, if the “majority of its members” are bombarded with data, and cannot anymore discern fact from fiction? What happens to cold hard facts and historical records? Is there hope for a functioning democracy in this “Age of Disinformation?”.
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In a democratic society, public opinion is given great importance in the implementation of policies. Here, the government carries out its actions based on the consent of the majority of its constituents. The true aim of democracy is to allow the citizens to participate in every aspect equally, but this participation must be peaceful and respectful of the laws. Ideally speaking, when an informed electorate make rational choices, democracy then works.
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Last 2022 Elections, campaign advertisements and political discussions swamped up our social media accounts. Unfortunately, none of these were coincidental. Social media feeds are designed based on each individual’s behavior and habit.1 Like fingerprints, no news feed is similar to another. Any engagements made by the user that captures their attention will attract suggestions of similar content. Hence, any information or misinformation that was engaged by the user will pull up other information curated to their initial psychological patterns, even our political preferences. This is what we call “Surveillance Capitalism”, a marketplace that never existed before. It trades human features, profiting off from the infinite tracking of social media users. Here, every online activity is monitored and recorded; it makes better predictions about who we are and what we are about to do based on our clicks and interactions.
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In a world where online connection has become a primary need, technology has found ways to make our minds vulnerable. It tracks what kind of activities tend to trigger our emotions and which videos could keep us watching online for hours uninterrupted. It operates as a culture of manipulation, an unconscious habit of clicking something that peaks our curiosity before realizing its consequences. What makes us truly vulnerable to misinformation is our biases matched with these algorithmically-selected social media content. From flat-earthers to conspiracy theories, the algorithm drives the users further down the rabbit hole, creating a spurious air of legitimacy. This also gives rise to “confirmation bias” by which people seek information or news articles that align with their beliefs, and any occurrence of events will be interpreted to reaffirm their respective personal points of view.
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Our economy finds worth in costs and profit more than humanization. A thought- provoking quote for a generation that has fallen under some sort of spell, scrolling through websites where services are “free”, “If you are not paying for the product, then you are the product.” It just goes to show that our attention is the product that advertisers are paying these platforms for. In the same vein, numerous Facebook pages disguised as “non-political” or “non-profit” take advantage of unsuspecting users in advertising their promotions. It is all part of a designed technique, nothing came by accident.
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What we thought was a bare possibility has finally arrived – the day when unverified information and fabricated statements are passed on to the public, winning the hearts of the people. The unregulated social media platforms have taken the place of reliable sources and legitimate journalists. Fake news on Twitter spreads six times faster than true news. This tilts the floor of human behavior and creates a whole new system that favors false information. This is the hard truth: We think that fake news is more interesting than true news… because true news is boring. Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube, and other social media platforms may be the greatest tool for communication created by humans, but imagine what that means in the hands of a biased speculator. Recently, historical inaccuracies resurfaced in various social media platforms. The true victims of misinformation are the ordinary citizens who rely on the “free” entertainment found in controversial videos and “memes” brought by social media. Nearing the elections, hearsay and gossip uncontrollably ramped up to the point that the majority of the social media users can no longer distinguish false information from the truth. This toxic digital noise has created a great political polarization where people have become anxious and fearful of getting attacked or canceled when they engage in political discussions online. A remote warfare stirred up where two sides do not hear each other because neither trusts the other anymore. The problem beneath all these is that it’s this polarization that also keeps the users online.
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Over time, social alliances play a vital role on how we weigh the information we receive. Those who balk at being critical will have to settle for false claims. While elections are not only won online, supporters of different political parties flooded social media with their own narratives. Sadly, most political engagements are negative campaigns, echoing hate, anger, and fear. Supporters of the late dictator’s son, whose family had been booted out years ago, tried to justify their candidate’s absence during presidential debates, family’s estate tax liability, and falsified educational records.2
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Meanwhile, many are still advocating to debunk historical distortion through track records and cold hard facts. It is worth noting that misleading claims continue to work despite the availability of fact-checkers. As we recall, during the campaign of Former US President Barack Obama, a misleading claim was made that his birth certificate was forged and he is not eligible to run for Presidency of the United
States. One of the prominent figures peddling speculations, especially online, was Former President Donald Trump who is also one of the many believers that Former President Obama is not an American citizen. 3 This is just one of the many “fake news” that Former US President Trump has openly disseminated on Twitter. During his 2016 Presidential Campaign political analysts and media traced down Trump’s twitter activity trend which disclaims the health care system, climate change, science, and American education. 4 In fact, his latest claim of losing the 2020 Presidential Election against Joe Biden due to fraud had encouraged his political supporters to siege the US Capitol Building after his call to action, causing a riot, and assaulting government officers, including lawmakers, and deliberately destroying artifacts and offices of Democrat Senators. 5
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Here in the Philippines, presidential candidate Francisco “Isko” Moreno previously referred to his opponent Leni Robredo the “godmother bully” to which his supporters followed by calling the latter candidate a “female bully” and her supporters “bitter”. Imee Marcos even won a seat in the Philippine Senate notwithstanding controversies about her academic achievements.6 Now, Bongbong Marcos won the hearts of the masses despite actively avoiding questions on the abuses during the Martial Law period, and tax evasion cases, among other relevant issues.7 The process has become more complex now that voters have to assess the qualification and platforms on top of checking whether the information to which their decisions are based are factual or doubtful.
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People in power suppress information on their wrongdoings and attack those who attempt to expose them. This was highlighted during the Martial Law era in the Philippines where critical media was silenced and people had access only to information which the government deemed positive. After a few decades, the public was caught off guard with the ABS-CBN shut down under the Duterte administration for its failure to renew the franchise.
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In this modern age, the problem is no longer lies with the withholding of news, but the bombarding of misinformation in social media. Many political candidates gave preference to influencers and social media during the campaign, blocking out real journalists and avoiding national debates. On online platforms, people are not just reading the news, they are actively discussing it; this means that people can easily keep up with their government’s activities and convince other people to side with their unsupported sentimental narratives.
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Unchecked information in social media is a wildfire that spreads gossip and hearsay with such unprecedented speed that paint manipulative propagandas and conspiracies that veer people from seeing what is logical, rational, and true. Fake news is no longer a mere “conspiracy” or false news but a weapon to undermine what used to be the truth and blur the perception of the masses on what is just or righteous.
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One who disregards fact-checking and correcting inaccuracies dismantles democracy. The critics are the true optimists because they know that we deserve better. We need to unshackle ourselves from the chains of misinformation or we will become prisoners of our own ignorance, corrupting our country’s future.
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Our Constitution specifically proclaimed that “the sovereignty resides within the Filipino people” 8 and that we must protect the “independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, and freedom.” 9 With the current state of our democracy, which was undermined by deliberate false information, people cannot choose freely based on truth and justice when they are slaves of false reality tailored to suppress their freedom.
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We are called to realize how we turned a blind eye to manipulation in exchange for what we thought was good governance and security. We let our democracy slide because of the promise of a radical change; hence, the false belief that our silence, along with the sacrifice of some of our freedoms, would amount to something greater for the country. This year, we take a stand for our democracy and we choose to fight for a future we deserve. Amidst the spread of misinformation, we hope to reform and grow the digital spaces available with voter education and media information literacy.
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The first step to solve all of these is to recognize that there is a problem in our current society. Many believe that there is nothing wrong with all the hostilities and blatant lies being put up in the Internet, underestimating the power of technology and social media within our palm until the same play us within the palm of their hands without us noticing it.
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From photo and video manipulations to powerful and convincing theories of vloggers with “credible” sources, people who rely on social media tend to believe hearsay posts over historical textbooks. With the shift to online educational setup, students and teachers alike are vulnerable to false information as they give credence on the top results in search engines or trending social media posts without delving deeper on their research.10 While the Internet is also a good place for informational material, the online setting due to the pandemic prevented the academic members from seeking additional information from libraries, which is the primary source of information. Any information deemed to be against their initial knowledge is not seen as a fact check but a criticism on what they initially believed in or shy away from important news and information that is relevant to current events as it depends their interest. 11
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To establish what is real history, we need to solidify the foundation of education, both for the youth and adults, to have a shared understanding of reality and truth, otherwise we are not a country nor a nation. We have to know and establish what is the truth, otherwise we’ll be throwing stones against our fellow countrymen to condemn the other for going against what a party knows as “real”. Know the difference of what should and should not be shared. Do not settle immediately on believing any information from non-reliable sources because it’s “easier to understand”. While it is true that social media is more accessible than reliable websites due to free data, it is still our obligation to fact check everything we share online. Failure to do so is willful ignorance, poisoning our friends and family’s feeds with false information which they think is true because they know you as a reliable person.
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We have to wake our collective will and have the discernment to know whether the news being offered to us is credible and unbiased. Being aware that social media is free because we, the users, are the products being sold to advertisers and investors as payment by changing our perception or the way we think to be inclined to their advantage and pleasure. Therefore, not everything we see online is offered to us out of goodwill or even true that will be helpful to us.
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Establishing the truth is not enough. Knowledge without conscience is dangerous. It is a heavier sin to share fake news deliberately when we have an inkling that it is false but proceed to share it for their own gain and convince other people to believe what we present. It is our duty to fact check, as a person who will share and as a reader. Do not let your initial reaction and emotions urge you to push the share button. Try to look for at least 2 to 3 reputable news sources to verify the facts presented. 12
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As a nation, we are vulnerable to misinformation if our leaders do not address nor acknowledge this predicament. The State must protect us from this disaster with a proactive effort of curbing damaging disinformation to promote news literacy and free and unbiased quality journalism by making regulations to control the rampant spread of fake news.
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Another possible solution is the imposition of a strict and unified guideline to online platform in fact checking articles that are being shared and attach warnings of possible fake news.13 As an act of parens patriae, the State may impose greater age requirement and restriction from use of social media by the children or students who need guidance in exploring the Internet as they are unable to discern what is true and what is false. Lastly, the State must verify institutions that are politically neutral and credible for check and balance of news 14 and increase cybersecurity to prevent entities or “trolls” from profiting by spreading fake news and mass data gathering by imposing either greater tax penalties or even penal sanctions.
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A disinformed electorate making irrational choices, which is in sum – an attack to our democracy. This is the legacy of “the Age of Disinformation”, it is now upon us whether we like it or not. We have seen the results of this radicalization of misinformation all over the world, from the 2021 United States Capitol attack 15 , the ongoing persecutions and killings of the Muslim Rohingya people by the Burmese military 16 , and now, the revisionism of the Marcos atrocities (despite the existence of court records). Which begs the question – what are we, as a nation, going to do to protect our democracy?
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1 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-algorithms/
2 https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/7/Marcos-not-sorry-father-dictator-martial-law-crimes-.html
3 https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/index.html
4 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/trump-tweets-legacy-of-lies-misinformation-distrust.html
5 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56004916
6 https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/2/27/Imee-Marcos-Princeton-University-the-Daily- Princetonian.html
7 https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/the-fall-of-the-dictatorship/
8 Philippine 1987 Constitution, Article 2, Sec 1.
9 Philippine 1987 Constitution, Preamble.
10 https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/history-crisis-easier-students-fall-for-disinformation-distance-learning-setup/
11 Id.
12 https://researchguides.austincc.edu/c.php?g=612891&p=4258050
13 https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-combat-fake-news-and-disinformation/
14 https://www.hec.edu/en/knowledge/articles/how-governments-can-take-actions-against-fake-news-
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