Filipinos Towards Disinformation
Published April 15, 2022 4:01 PM
by Christian Mar Oreza
GOING FORTH
The 2022 elections are approaching, and various candidates for national and local positions are now on their journey to convincing the Filipino people to vote for them. Different campaign strategies are being practiced in order to prove themselves to the Filipino people. However, with COVID 19 regulations still in place, many candidates are focusing their efforts on social media campaigning, which is more convenient and accessible to everybody.
Christian Mar Oreza
Based on a study by Sortlist, the Philippines leads the world in the most time spent using the internet, with 10 hours and 56 minutes per day and 4 hours and 15 minutes on using social media. As a result, many candidates, particularly those who are not well-known, use social media to present themselves and their platforms.
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Along with its effectiveness as a campaign strategy for candidates for the 2022 elections, social media platforms have also been a place where disinformation occurs. Just like troll accounts that mainly spread fake information about different candidates, these accounts can freely roll around on different platforms. Some of these accounts are created by supporters that aim to destroy the opposition.
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These accounts spread spliced videos, fake facts, and fake quotes from candidates to fool people and boost the candidate they are endorsing. With the presence of inaccurate information, anyone who consumes this type of content can easily be influenced. It can become an issue if a large number of people distribute it and it reaches uneducated individuals.
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Troll accounts create social media as a battleground for people who have different bets. The differences in opinions, preferences, and beliefs, separate people on social media and creates a war between oppositions. What's problematic about these online supporter fights is that individuals defend false information instead of spending time fact-checking it. Instead of working together to find the best candidates for the job, Filipinos argue amongst themselves and keep to their biases. Social media is a great tool for communicating with one another, but if it's just full of false information, it's not serving its purpose right.
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Fact-checking is important, especially with the upcoming 2022 elections. People should be aware of which content to consume because it has the potential to either educate or ruin their point of view. Since the Philippines' future is on the line, social media should be a place where people can connect and educate one another, and unite on one purpose which is to choose the right leaders that can make the Philippines a better place.