Dismiss disinformation

The Duterte administration has strengthened its communications program against fake news under the Presidential Communications Operations Office through its Dismiss Disinformation Campaign.

By definition, disinformation is false information deliberately spread with the intent to influence public opinion and obscure the truth. With so much information going around especially through the Internet, many of us at one point or the other have come across information which in the end was proven to be false.

For a very long time we have been accustomed to receiving and engaging with information intended to hit our emotions, leaving behind the essential characteristics necessary to attain proper and correct data.

Very recently we all saw and felt the effects on the government’s immunization program wherein the President himself lent a hand to the Department of Health in order to restore public trust in the anti-measles vaccine.

We also know that as part of the administration’s thrust in providing the nation with free and affordable medical consultations and medicine, President Duterte signed into law the Universal Health Act.

As we enter into the third year under the Duterte administration, we are looking forward to more accomplishments through projects that need to be effectively communicated to our people. The battle cry therefore is to Dismiss Disinformation and our aim is to reach out especially to the youth, the next generation of nation builders to help us combat the spread of fake news.

Disinformation hurts us all. Whether we be staunch communication professionals or young learners, disinformation affects our society. Fake news therefore cripples the very pillar of effective communication which is the truth … the very same virtue we expect our leaders to uphold.