The Philippines braces for an almost apocalyptic digital onslaught due to the disinformation efforts being published around the impending May 12th elections. The elections are poised to unleash a deluge of fabricated news and manipulated content, fostering enormous worries pertaining to the integrity of the election affairs.
Disinformation’s Impact: A Fake Reality
The resulting narrative surrounding disinformation tends to make people within the country and outside exceedingly worried. The recent arrest of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte on March 11th, after the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued an arrest warrant, led to an explosion of fake news and fake videos. AIDIDCC posts created with the sole purpose of Drue-ter spending ad dollars in praise became sickly sweet.
Fake Accounts: A Coordinated Campaign
Cyabra’s research uncovers the mark of a sophisticated fake account network and deep infiltration of social media by fictitious personas. These accounts might be untraceable but the nefarious coordinated exploiting of an ordinated web of unfounded narratives is equally concerning.
Disinformation’s Dangers: Aspects of Distrust
This Ponzi scheme of disinformation has deeply rooted consequences. As Johnny Pimentel, a politician that chaired a House of Representatives hearing on the matter, pointed out, these campaigns “mislead citizens” and “undermine trust in our institutions.” Trust in sources of information is crucial for citizenship in a democratic framework. Information entails the essential building blocks, and obstructing this vital component can stifle a democratic environment whereby voters aren’t able to make rational choices.
The Position of Big Tech: Difficulties with Moderation
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which serves as a primary news outlet for over half of the Filipinos, is currently under fire from numerous angles. “The problem of misinformation moderation on Facebook with its 3.2 billion users is a mountainous task for Rafael Frankel, Meta’s Southeast Asia public policy head.
Meta relies on AI-powered moderation systems coupled with human fact-checkers to check the authenticity of posts. One of the checking partners that is based in the Philippines is Vera Files, which is a media nonprofit. Vera Files, however, is claiming that liberalized information as a result of social media is flooding the Philippines and claiming that misinformation used Vera Files as the most common nonprofit in the Philippines, Barnardo’s, is in the misinformation race.
The Limits of Fact-Checking: A Losing Battle?
Consider the position of Marlon Nombrado, who heads Out of the Box Media Literacy Initiative, a local non-profit aimed at combating disinformation through education. He paints a bleak picture: “We seem to be losing the battle with sophisticated coordinated disinformation, and fact-checking isn’t cutting it.” It appears as though his concerns lean more toward the efficacy of present-day strategies.
Vigilance: Information Saboteurs Must Be Stopped
Samson from Vera Files has not lost hope in the weight of fact-checking towards preserving “information integrity online.” “I’ll be the first to admit, I find myself constantly overwhelmed and exhausted fighting off the flood of inaccurate information, but we still need to persevere for the verifiable data,” she argues.
The Philippines is undergoing a period of intense digital assault as they approach the election date. The democracy-defying evolution of disinformation as we know it is indeed a menace. To reiterate the industry’s ongoing concern, while tech companies are formulating some sort of a solution, there’s an even greater reality to confront — the universal necessity for media education and facts integrated into information wherever possible.
