Charles Teves
9 out of 10 Filipino adults (85%) believed that “fake news” is a major issue the country is dacing.
A survey conducted by Pulse Asia from September 17-21 suggested that only 14% of respondents have no problem with fake news spreading.
92 percent of the respondents in Balance Luzon consider fake news as a huge problem while 87 percent from Metro Manila also do. Only eight percent of respondents in Balance Luzon said that fake news is not a concern. Metro Manila followed with 13 percent, Mindanao with 19 percent, and the Visayas with 23 percent.
“About nine (9) out of every 10 adults (86%) are of the view that false news or fake news is a problem in the Philippines. This is the prevailing sentiment at the national level (86%) as well as in each geographic area and socio-economic grouping (77% to 92% and 74% to 93%, respectively),” said Pulse Asia.
“An overwhelming majority of the country’s adult population (90%) have read, heard, and/or watched fake political news; internet or social media (68%) and television (67%) are the leading sources of fake news about government and politics,” it added.
The respondents said they also hear fake news coming from the radio, friends, family, community leaders, newspapers, and religious leaders.
21 percent said they hear fake news every day, 26 a few times a week, 17 percent once a week, and 25 percent said they watch disinformation a few times monthly.
When asked who they think is responsible for spreading fake news, 58 percent of the respondents said media influencers, followed by journalists, politicians, civil leaders, businessmen, and teachers.
“Social media influencers, bloggers, and/or vloggers are seen by most Filipino adults (58%) as peddlers of fake news about government and politics. For a small majority of adults (58%), social media influencers, bloggers, and/or vloggers are responsible for spreading fake political news in the country – an opinion shared by most Metro Manilans (69%), those in the rest of Luzon (67%), and those belonging to Class ABC and D (69% and 58%, respectively),” Pulse Asia said.
Netizens also agree with most of the respondents in the survey.
Bayan Muna Partylist chairman Neri Colmenares accused politicians of ramping up fake news.
The problem is growing because people in power perpetuated & continuously feeds it through hired trolls or creating vlogs & posts with dubious content. It is inherent upon real journalists and the public at large who strive for the truth to combat this scourge of the digital age. https://t.co/l8R8K4m1Jo
— Neri Colmenares (@ColmenaresPH) October 11, 2022
True! This has been so disastrous because our critical thinking is generally so poor and our tendency to be fanatics is so strong that we cannot even figure out what’s wrong. https://t.co/44Np9SqanG
— Malou (@maloueudela) October 12, 2022
https://twitter.com/xxwatasiwaleexx/status/1579996807785959424?s=20
JOURNALISTS ARE SEEN AS SPREADING FAKE NEWS???
What this fails to see though is that what qualifies as fake news to the respondent? An apologist will say that the news from certain outlets are fake news too. https://t.co/o4fPoWkEIb
— ً (@paintingblues) October 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/jj_macaraeg/status/1579939276225015808?s=20
A light under the tunnel… Thanks God! https://t.co/T6QyOw3Yei
— Benjamin Supanga (@BenjaminSupanga) October 11, 2022
On Wednesday, the Office of the Press Secretary said the issue of fake news was “serious.” “Ito po ay isang seryosong bagay na tututukan ng [Office of the Press Secretary],” OIC Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a press briefing.
“Mayroon kaming mga programa na ili-laydown in the coming days. We’ll let you know kasi gusto rin talaga natin na ma-address itong mga problema ng fake news,” she added.
Former Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles previously said that her office will begin fact-checking operations.
According to several reports, Pres. Bongbong Marcos benefited the most from disinformation during election season.
