By Ercel Maandig/Philippine News Agency
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The government media continues to bolster the ‘Dismiss Disinformation’ campaign to combat fake news and disinformation, as the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region 10 on Thursday spearheaded the 6th leg of the campaign here.
The campaign was initiated by the Presidential Communications Operation Office (PCOO) headed by Secretary Martin Andanar who personally roamed around the island for the media advocacy.
Andanar reported to the community media here three ways of screening information from social media, adding some of the information posted in the social platform were not “professional”, unlike mainstream media which have ethical considerations, guided with journalistic standards.
He said people must check the source first if it is reliable, read the entire article or story before spreading, and have a thorough verification process by asking reliable sources.
“But because we are living in a democratic government in which social media democratized information through ‘free press,’ we must face the challenge of the 4th Estate and as a new platform of information,” he said.
Meanwhile, the final stretch of the 2019 election is crucial according to Andanar, wherein trolls and fake news try to proliferate against the government, saying that this can also be a form of a destabilization plot.
He said this was the reason why he created the “Dismiss Disinformation” campaign, by asking voters and communities to help fight “fake news” and urged social media users to be a watchdog and watchful in networking information especially those stories that can be considered as black propaganda.
“The massive campaign of Dismiss Disinformation will help a lot to combat Fake News and the spreading of misleading and false information to the public,” Andanar said.
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