FAKE news and disinformation have surged following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) over charges of crimes against humanity.
“The disinformation and fake news are very concerning. It looks like the Duterte camp is going all-out to mislead and misinform the public,” Carlos Conde, senior researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, told Sunstar Philippines.
“This is, of course, nothing new for them. Remember that during the 2016 presidential campaign, they also used disinformation to boost the popularity of Duterte and his brand of politics. Look where we are now,” added Conde, who has been conducting extensive research on Duterte’s alleged crimes in the country.
Journalists and advocacy groups have documented various forms of fake news that have gone viral on social media.
“The challenge is for ordinary people to take the initiative to combat disinformation. They should actively push back by providing accurate, correct, and credible information,” said Conde.
“This is what I'm doing myself—small things like posting this image as widely as I can and using it as a reply photo for comments attacking me or spreading disinformation. Small steps mean a lot these days,” added Conde.
Some of the fake news widely shared on social media include a quote card showing US President Donald Trump claiming support for Duterte; a fake report about Duterte's disappearance from the ICC detention center; a false narrative claiming that Duterte is not receiving medical assistance from the ICC; rumors about the mass resignation of police and army personnel over Duterte’s arrest; and various other quote cards featuring fictional legal personalities from American TV shows supporting the former president, among others.
“For me, this influx of fake news during the time of Duterte's ICC arrest is somewhat a confirmation of an Oxford study that linked the previous administration to funding a troll army that weaponized social media for propaganda,” said Dr. Ulderico Alviola, head of the Department of Development Communication at the state-run Visayas State University in Baybay City.
Alviola, who is also the designated Country Representative for the Visayas at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, maintained that “political gaslighting was at its peak during the Duterte regime, though it waned a bit after his term.”
“Now that he’s being arrested, it seems that the troll army has been resuscitated to push a narrative in favor of the former president,” Alviola said in a report from the Catholic news site UCA News.
Asked what the public should do about this issue, Alviola said, “As a communication teacher, this is a litmus test for us on whether our efforts in Media and Information Literacy are working.”
“We need to educate the public, not just students, on making sense of the clutter on social media. We need to convince them to rely on trusted sources of news and information. We cannot allow vloggers and paid political pages to dominate and stir the narrative in this new round of information warfare,” Alviola said.
“We can only do this if we can effectively connect with the public by engaging in a more empathetic approach in public discourse, whether on social media or in the physical world. The old style of bickering and pointing fingers will not work, as proven by the results of the 2022 elections. We cannot make the same mistake again, as it will only continue to divide our country, to the detriment of all Filipinos,” the university professor added.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from February 15 to 19 showed that 59 percent of Filipinos consider the spread of fake news on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to be a serious problem. (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines)