The Commission on Elections on Friday urged netizens to maintain trust in traditional media against scrupulous social media handlers regarding reportage as the mainstream media knows how to vet facts compared to others.

On the sidelines of the ‘Panata Kontra-Fake News Covenant Signing’ at the GMA Network Center in Quezon City, spearheaded by GMA Network in collaboration with various broadcast, print, and online news organizations and the biggest universities throughout the country, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia stressed that the mainstream media remain the trusted purveyor of news and information.

“Citizens and voters should rely only on reliable and strong media entities, which are the traditional or mainstream media. We must be extra careful with some social media because we cannot differentiate what’s real and not when it comes to information that they disseminate,” Garcia said.

Garcia said that fake news peddlers to date are not just local but also coming from other countries who are trying to meddle in various matters and issues happening in the country, especially on this coming mid-term suffrage.

“Misinformation, disinformation, or fake news are not being done domestically, it is now international. They want to influence the proceedings of our elections, particularly the candidates. When it happens, it is frightening as voters are vulnerable to choosing wrong and fake officials with bad intentions for our nation,” he stressed.

Garcia said that next week, the poll body will release guidelines on how to regulate or prohibit the use of artificial intelligence and deepfakes in the campaign and the whole 2025 mid-term election process.

“These rules are vital to give candidates equal opportunities during the campaign, as well as prevention of fake news proliferation. The Comelec just wants fair treatment because not all candidates have the means to campaign nationwide, especially those who are not well off and belong to a huge party,” Garcia said.

Experts earlier warned that AI and deepfakes would play a bigger role in the campaign period for the 2025 midterm elections. 

To avert this, Comelec proposed to the en banc to prohibit candidates from using AI technology and deepfakes in their electoral campaigns. 

In July, the Comelec announced it would come up with a set of guidelines for the use of AI in the May 2025 elections. 

Last month, Comelec also launched a task force mandated to protect the May 2025 polls versus AI-driven misinformation and disinformation through monitoring, and regulating published content on quad-media such as TV, radio, print, and online.

TRIBUNE joins historic pact

DAILY TRIBUNE, with the mantra "Without Fear, Without Favor", takes pride in being part of ‘Panata Kontra-Fake News Covenant Signing’, which happened during the celebration of National Press Freedom Day.

No less than DAILY TRIBUNE president Willie Fernandez joined major Philippine media organizations, social media platforms, and academic institutions that convened for the covenant signing, pledging a unified and unwavering commitment to fighting fake news and disinformation, considered to be the most comprehensive alliance to fight misinformation.

For his part, GMA Network CEO Felipe L. Gozon said disinformation is as old as communication evolving from inscriptions and stones, but fake news only became pervasive in 2016.

“Not a day goes by without false information spreading like wildfire in an ecosystem where checks and balances are outpaced by distortion, deception, and speed. Panata Kontra Fake News is a continuation of a long-standing crusade to safeguard the integrity of discourse. It needs a massive undertaking to fight,” he said in his speech.