What’s so fake about news?

The other day, I came across a seemingly malicious post from a certain “Balitang Pinoy” page tagging Rose Lin, who previously ran for Congress, as the “mastermind” behind the Pharmally scandal. As the corporate secretary and treasurer of the company, she allegedly had full control of bank accounts and built layers to hide true ownership.

Of course, anyone who has closely followed this controversy should know that none of those allegations is true and that Lin has never been implicated in any of the criminal and administrative cases filed by the Ombudsman against those actually involved in the reported procurement of overpriced and substandard medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The post is obviously politically motivated. What gave it away was the claim that Lin is poised to run for Congress again.

At any rate, what is disturbing about that seemingly innocuous post is the fact that it trivializes the efforts made by the government to hold those actually involved in the controversy truly liable.

In fact, a few months ago, Ombudsman Boying Remulla ordered the withdrawal and comprehensive reassessment of Pharmally cases pending before the Sandiganbayan. As he wants to make the cases airtight, he seeks to address previous lapses and expand investigations to determine if higher-level officials are liable.

Remulla stated that investigations will go as far as the evidence takes him. This includes evaluating possible positive acts or accountability on the part of former President Rodrigo Duterte and other top officials involved in the pandemic procurement.

Surely, many people may see this as politically motivated, too. But at least, this is not fake news compared to the one posted earlier.

The problem with misleading information is that it systematically devalues objective truth and, over time, is passed off as truth itself.

In fact, studies have shown that misleading narratives, fabricated quotes and AI-manipulated content have distorted election results, confused voters and manipulated public policy debates. They also allow the real culprits behind criminal activities to remain scot-free as public opinion shifts away from them.

As an advocate of free speech, I have always believed that everybody should be allowed to articulate sentiments and concerns, even if these make some people, particularly those in high places, uncomfortable.

But with social media being largely unregulated, I have seen defamatory posts made one after another while the identities of those behind them remain anonymous. Facebook, in fact, allows the proliferation of unattributed and unaccredited pages that rampantly share fake news.

Hopefully, at some point, Congress will be able to enact a law that judiciously addresses this.