The battle against fake news has become relevant more than ever with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and the human replication it is capable of.

Thus yesterday, on National Press Freedom Day, an unprecedented 60 media organizations and educational institutions formed an alliance seeking to stop the proliferation of deception in the virtual world.

The campaign is particularly directed at the deluge of hypocrisy and deceit that characterizes an election season when the spread of misleading information reaches its peak.

The anti-fake news partners signed a covenant to adhere to the truth in an event spearheaded by GMA Network.

GMA Network Chairperson Felipe Gozon pointed out the importance of supporting the truth in achieving progress.

“Fake news is both dangerous and harmful but the truth is glorious and useful. It fosters an informed populace, essential for a functioning democracy and stronger society,” Gozon said.

The alliance seeks to lay the groundwork for transformative projects that will enhance the lives of every Filipino.

As a responsible media organization, DAILY TRIBUNE has assumed the function of helping the public sift through the credibility and ambiguity of information.

We had a sampling of a world infested with disinformation during the pandemic that led to serious consequences that prompted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, to indicate at the 2020 Munich Security Conference that the world was not just fighting a pandemic but an infodemic.

The barrage of false information undermined efforts to arrest the transmission of the deadly disease, leading to millions of deaths globally.

The lessons learned during the health emergency indicated the fatal effects of an infodemic that was synonymous with misinformation and disinformation, two different yet related concepts that are collectively known as fake news and part of what experts call information disorder.

Studies showed the connection between distressing situations, such as the global health emergency and the increased propensity to believe fake news.

People are particularly drawn to false information unintentionally to ease their anxieties or feelings of insecurity, which is a reason fake news may reach a dangerous level during the election period.

False information is as old as humanity. What makes fake news different today is the ease by which it is produced, spread, and multiplied, given the modern communication tools, particularly social media.

Social media is also driven by the so-called attention economy whereby anyone can become a vendor and profit from receiving attention, treating it as a scarce commodity, with many information vendors vying for attention.

Producers of fake news have the primary objective of capturing the audience’s attention and manipulating this to spread false information by sharing it.

What makes disinformation often appealing is the sensationalism that some content producers resort to in order to drive up web traffic from which they gain through advertising revenue, among other earning sources.

Finally, the ubiquity and accessibility of social media make it a potent channel for spreading fake news.

The Philippines may not have the highest internet and social media penetration rates in Southeast Asia but Filipinos spend the longest hours online.

Since fake news travels faster than real news as the sensational spins mostly have a mass appeal, the campaign against it should be a united front of the biggest alliance possible to be effective.

When confusion dominates, evil reigns.