Fake, fake, fake!

For months on end, a slew of fake news as well as bogus documents have been circulating on social media, among them a purported memorandum to the President claiming that the United States is urging the Philippine government to prioritize the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.

The spurious document, which was also seeded to journalists, supposedly came from the office of National Security Adviser Eduardo Año – known to be a true professional military officer – who naturally dismissed this stupidity as a total fabrication and vowed that a probe would be conducted to get to the bottom of the whole thing, and will file appropriate charges against those responsible.

Stories also circulated about President Donald Trump supposedly snubbing President Marcos during the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. But thanks to extensive worldwide coverage, this claim was easily debunked by photos and videos showing the two leaders exchanging pleasantries, with President Trump introducing PBBM to First Lady Melania. There were 170 other world leaders who were also in attendance. Obviously, this fake news was meant to sow intrigue between the two allies and undermine the strong relationship between the US and the Philippines.

This is not the first time that malign operations have been launched against the President and key government agencies and officials, spreading false information, creating fake stories, fake videos and even fake text messages. These perpetrators use the letterheads of government agencies and scan signatures that they attach to fake documents, combining and manipulating bits and pieces of information in a creative manner to make them look and sound legit.

If one could recall, a fake memorandum was spread around Facebook and Messenger supposedly from the Philippine National Police, telling personnel to be on heightened alert because of an alleged destabilization plot being hatched by certain members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

And then there was that outrageous memorandum allegedly from Malacañang bearing a fake signature of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin stating that a two-day salary deduction would be imposed on government workers to subsidize the President’s financial donation for victims of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria that claimed the lives of thousands, including a Filipina and her three children.

Many of us serving in government have been victims of fake news not just once but several times, with fake memos being sent out to journalists via email and text from fictitious persons. And though I know that this is par for the course when you work for the government, what is disturbing is that fake information can now be manipulated and made to look authentic because of artificial intelligence.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations, majority of Filipinos (59 percent) consider fake news to be a serious problem, with an even bigger number (65 percent) admitting that they have difficulty identifying if the material they heard, read or watched on radio, TV or social media was fake or erroneous.

In the “2024 Digital News Report” published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, a key finding is that concern over what is real and what is fake on the internet when it comes to online news has risen to 59 percent in 2024, up by 3 percent from 2023.

No doubt fake news has become so rampant, especially over social media, that it’s almost like a curse. Even Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, Rafael Frankel, admits that it is “practically impossible” for them to control misinformation among the 3.2 billion Facebook users worldwide. Experts also aver that fake posts spread at a rate that is much faster than the ability of Meta to flag or take them down.

It’s astonishing how technology has made it easy for malign actors to manipulate almost anything – from photos to videos – through the use of AI tools that can make these “deep fakes” look really authentic.

But the sad part is when people already know that what they are spreading is fake news but continue to do so perhaps just for kicks, or because they are rabid supporters of a particular political party or personality, not realizing that what they are doing will just hurt themselves and worse, the country down the line.

A UNESCO-commissioned survey published in 2023 that was conducted by Ipsos (covering 16 countries scheduled to hold elections in 2024) revealed that more than 85 percent of respondents are worried about the impact of online disinformation, while 87 percent are convinced that it has already negatively impacted politics in their respective countries.

Titled “Survey on the impact of online disinformation and hate speech,” the global survey noted the importance of access to reliable information as a “basic prerequisite for informed debate on all of the challenges that societies face. However, as social media platforms have become the preferred source of information for a growing number of citizens, concerns have been raised about the prevalence of falsehoods and hate speech, propelled by opaque algorithms that can favor engagement over factuality, and exacerbated by active exploitation by some political leaders and other actors.”

It’s really pathetic that the May 12 elections is driving the proliferation of fake news exacerbated by hate-laced campaigning – which is why now, more than ever, legitimate media has to find a way to play a major role in fighting fake news and disinformation. Most importantly, they must maintain credibility, fairness and objectivity in order to protect the integrity of news reporting and show the people that they can be trusted as sources of real – not fake – news.

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