MAD supports Gov’t Initiative to Launch a Digital Media Literacy Campaign to Combat Disinformation

March 14, 2023

At a side event on safe online spaces that was recently held during the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Cherbett Karen Maralit declared that the Marcos Jr. administration would launch a digital media literacy campaign against disinformation, which would equip Filipinos from vulnerable communities with knowledge and tools “to be discerning of the truth”.

The Movement Against Disinformation (MAD) acknowledges and welcomes this pronouncement. This affirmation by the Government of the importance of truth and its show of commitment to uphold it bolsters the fight against the systematic and unregulated spread of disinformation in social media platforms in the Philippines.

A Pulse Asia survey in 2022 revealed that about 9 in 10 Filipino adults, or 86 percent, see the proliferation of “fake news” as a problem in the country. The survey showed that majority of the country’s adult population have read, heard, and/or watched fake political news; and that the internet or social media and television are the leading sources of fake news about government and politics. Majority of the respondents also pointed to social media influencers as the top source of disinformation.

Considering the ubiquity and pervasiveness of social media in the lives of the Filipinos, it becomes urgent and imperative for the Government to enable and to equip its people with the skills to discern what is true, correct, and credible news and information.

This digital media literacy campaign is an opportunity for this administration to forge collaboration, develop alliances and build trust with and among various groups of truth-tellers, fact-checkers and advocates against disinformation. The solution to this complex problem of disinformation caused and fueled by the business model of big tech companies requires a multi-pronged and a whole of society approach.

This gesture by the Government sends a strong message that it will not tolerate the spread of lies, untruths, fake news, and disinformation online; and that peddlers, vectors, and enablers of disinformation online would soon be held accountable for their actions and omissions under Philippine law.

MAD supports this initiative and has high hopes that it could pave the way for a more organized, concerted and sustained push back against the spread of disinformation and misinformation in the social media platforms in the Philippines.