Marcos Jr. admin to head media literacy campaign vs misinformation, disinformation
MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos Jr. administration this year will lead a digital media literacy campaign to combat misinformation and disinformation, an official from the Presidential Communications Office said.
In a Palace statement, PCO Undersecretary Cherbett Karen Maralit said that the Congress has tasked the PCO to address misinformation and disinformation in the digital landscape, which has become a growing concern.
She made the remarks during a side event on cyber safety at the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
Maralit noted that women’s rights continued to be undermined by disinformation and misinformation during this age of information.
Stating that they will focus on “most vulnerable communities,” the PCO official added: “Taking a context-based and factual grassroots approach, we intend to reach out to, and equip, these communities with knowledge and skills and tools that will enable them to be discerning of the truth as they engage in various social media channels and platforms.”
Study to identify vulnerable communities, ‘fake news peddlers’
Maralit said that the PCO’s campaign will involve active collaboration with the private sector, including stakeholders of the broadcast industry, to establish mechanisms against misinformation and disinformation.
The first step would be “identifying reliable and credible sources of information,” she continued.
This will be done through the conduct of a study across the country this month to “refine the target communities where media literacy is most needed; determine the social media platforms through which these communities are most susceptible to fake news; and identify the contents and topics on which these misinformation and disinformation focus,” the statement read.
The study will also seek to identify profiles of misinformation and disinformation peddlers.
After the conduct of the study, which they expect will post results by mid-2023, the PCO will implement a nationwide media literacy campaign with focus on the identified vulnerable communities.
The Palace said that by end of 2023, the PCO will hold a a Media Literacy Summit, where speakers from organizations such as Facebook, Google, and the Philippine Commission on Women, among others, will be invited “in the hope that they will share equal commitment to this cause.”
An October 2022 released survey by the Pulse Asia showed that 86% of Filipino adults say that false news or fake news is a problem, while only 14% say otherwise.
According to the poll, 58% of Filipinos see social media influencers, bloggers and vloggers as peddlers of fake news about government and politics, followed by journalists at 40%, national politicians at 37% and local politicians at 30%.
Disinformation researcher Fatima Gaw, in an earlier Philstar.com report, said there is a need to know how disinformation is funded and strategized, who are complicit and what should the state do to govern itself.
"The administration both present and past have been reported and investigated for being the purveyors of disinformation," Gaw added.
Legislation
Separately, proposals to institutionalize Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as core subject in basic and secondary education curriculum have also been introduced at the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Maralit noted that integrating MIL in basic education curriculum faces challenges such as the misconception that it is an educational technology-related subject, lack of training for teachers and the need to consider MIL as tertiary education core subject as well.
But she said the PCO shall work with the public education sector to address these.
“We need the help of MIL experts, specialists, and established organizations to lend their strengths and help us in achieving the kind of Filipino society we wish to see where all are free to realize their best,” Maralit added. — with reports from Xave Gregorio
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