Why people fall for “fake news” and other questions

N.B. – A journalist working for a foreign news media organization asked four questions on the issue of “fake news.” These are my answers.

What is “fake news” and why do so many people believe it?

“Fake news” should be put in quotation marks because it is not supposed to exist. In a way, we can argue that “fake news” is a misnomer because news refers to the real and it is awkward to come up with a phrase like “fake real” (by virtue of transitivity). “Fake news” accounts should be called for what they really are: LIES. In the past, the so-called fake news items were called “zombie facts” which referred to unfounded claims that are resurrected over and over until they attained some degree of “truth” in terms of public perception (e.g., alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq which justified the US invasion in the Bush Jr. era).

There are people who fall for “fake news” for several reasons: (1) Many “fake news” items are designed and laid out in a manner that makes them somewhat believable and credible, using logos and URLs that imitate the more established news media organizations both here and abroad; (2) The dominant media, given the cutthroat competition for ratings, web traffic and readership, usually fail to provide in-depth reports that provide a sharp analysis of the burning issues of the day, therefore failing to properly shape public opinion through relevant information; and (3) In relation to the second point, there are people who see “fake news” coming from blogs and social media users, including those with questionable reputations, as “alternative” sources of information.

(Other relevant points may be retrieved from my earlier blog post.)

Why do Filipinos support those who reportedly spread fake news like Mocha Uson and Sass Rogando Sasot?

The reasons may be rooted in (1) the lack of media literacy (i.e., failure to properly understand the workings of the press including the normative standards of journalism of which truth-telling is a basic principle); and (2) the posturing of Uson and Sasot as supporters of the incumbent president, thereby reducing some people’s social media engagement and overall social media experience as mere echo chambers.

How does it affect our democracy?

Whatever passes of as democracy in the Philippines is misused and abused by those who litter the information superhighway. For some, the prevalence of “fake news” (or simply disinformation and misinformation) becomes the justification to reject democracy and opt for a dictatorship or authoritarian rule instead. The irony isn’t lost in a situation where there are Duterte supporters who are pushing for a revolutionary government even if many government officials and pro-administration socmed users are the purveyors of “fake news” themselves.

Should the writing and dissemination of fake news be criminalized?

Self-regulation and media education are the solutions to battling fake news. It may be long, arduous and tortuous, but legislating “fake news” would end up compromising freedom of the press and of expression. Not only is “fake news” hard to define, but we cannot trust legislators to define it for us, much less allow the curtailment of social media use and Internet use in the guise of battling “fake news.”

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