EDITORIAL - Fake news strikes again

Fake news has struck again, the latest victim being Vice President Leni Robredo.

According to the fake news report, the vice president donated food to the Diliman Doctors Hospital that later turned out to be spoiled. The report went on to say that her spokesman, Barry Gutierrez, went to the hospital to offer money in exchange for their silence.

The way the new item was crafted tells of how “thorough” the fabricators of the report wanted to be. They didn’t just stop at wanting to make people believe spoiled food was delivered; they went the extra mile of adding a part 2, saying money was offered in exchange for her silence.

“We have taken steps already. We are making sure that we will make these people accountable,” Robredo is quoted as saying in an interview over ANC’s Headstart.

It’s sad to note that even in these times there are still those who choose to make and spread false reports. To some extent we can say that it was fortunate this time that the false report wasn’t something meant to cause panic.

Purveyors of fake news can be likened to terrorists. Fake news doesn’t just add to the confusion. Under the right conditions, some false reports can cause chaos or even be downright deadly.

If one particular piece of fake news is meant to sow panic, then that makes it even more dangerous. False reports like a certain number of suspected infected are expected to be shipped to their home province, or that a certain area will soon be placed under hard lockdown, or that suspected COVID-19 carriers are being allowed to roam free in a certain area.

Usually it is the fear and panic caused by something that is more destructive than the actual thing itself.      

This is compounded by the fact that many people immediately give in to the hysteria and quickly hit the share button without first verifying if a report is true or not.

Purveyors of fake news must be pursued, arrested, and held accountable for their actions, especially at this time when fear and uncertainty often cloud what is the truth.