𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗡: “Fake News as Label: The Urgent Need for Precision” by Reniza Manalaysay

Published by: Akira Joy Gabion

Date Published: September 6, 2023

Time Published: 1:23 PM

Fake News as a term is far from ideal. It is vague, misleading, and ambiguous. Aside from the fact that false information on itself is already catastrophic, using a wrong term to label a situation makes the predicament more serious.

Angat Kabataan - San Pedro, a youth-led, non-profit organization consisting of volunteers and students of San Pedro City, recently conducted a seminar that aimed to counter misinformation, disinformation, and to raise awareness about freedom and our rights to information. Last August 27, 2023, 40 students from all over San Pedro City gathered at Brgy. San Vicente for “𝘈𝘕𝘖 𝘈𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖𝘛𝘖𝘖?: A Grassroot Dialogue to Fight Misinformation and Disinformation sa Laguerta Covered Court, Brgy. San Vicente, City of San Pedro, Laguna” [1].

Guest speakers in the seminar addressed the importance of keeping one’s guard up when dealing with information online. One guest speaker, Mr. John Nitura, took an interesting approach in discussing Fake News. One quote in particular, “𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮.”

In his statement, using that term is not a recommended idea. That is because such words make it hard to distinguish the seriousness of the situation—the spreading of wrong information. When we label something as such, we are reducing it to a “joke”. It should be categorized accurately according to its intent. Misleading posts should be called misleading posts, manipulation, or anything that is aligned to the purpose of the post such as a propaganda or satire, not just as a “Fake News".

Casually throwing and labeling everything that is false as fake news, lessens the value of the real problem—fabrication of lies to disguise it as truth with the intention of harm. For instance, a case of public humiliation that could be counted as Defamation under the law will be reduced to a mere joke by the public eye. This is a problem because we are failing to understand just how complex the situation is. All we know is that it is false, but not how it violates the rights of the other people in accordance with the law. It is not a simple mistake, it is a crime, a violation of trust.

This specific term oversimplifies an extremely harmful idea. It blurs the line on what is an honest mistake and what is deliberate with the intent of harm, obscuring the legal implications of the “mishap”.

Labeling a serious crime as such reduces it to a tittle-tattle, blinding the people on the gravity of the story; taking away the actual weight of the problem. We are responsible for the information we take but we are also the ones in charge of labeling its importance. That is why it is necessary to truly understand the weight of the word we say. If something that is as serious as purposely generating wrong narrative is to occur, recognizing it as something that is truly dangerous and not as a joke is important. Distancing ourselves from using the term should be the first step in protecting not only ourselves from false information, but also preserving the integrity of information. Let us not diminish the value of a narrative through association with a trivial label of a “Fake News”.

References:

[1] Angat Kabataan - San Pedro. (2023, August 27). ANO ANG TOTOO? August 27, 2023: Isinagawa ng Angat Kabataan San Pedro kasama ang Youth-led Network for the Right. [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/angatkabataansp/posts/316092797606903