Dr. Analiza Perez-Amurao, of the Humanities and Language Division at Mahidol University International College, raised questions on the role of social media companies in addressing disinformation. Referring to her background as an educator, she pointed to the importance of media and digital literacy for the youth.
Ed Legaspi, Former Executive Director of SEAPA focused on the role of the election commission and rules governing election propaganda in the Philippines. He said to date the role of COMELEC has been poor and late in addressing the problem of disinformation during elections. He recommended that this weakness be addressed for future elections.
From the discussion during the event, it was clear that during the 2022 Philippines Presidential Election campaign disinformation has spiked over compared to the 2016 elections. There is a real risk disinformation might become mainstream, and mainstream media sidelined. Fact-checking and media literacy, while important, are proving inadequate in tackling the issue effectively.
The event was covered by BenarNews, read ‘Filipino journalists, experts allege online attacks, disinformation from Marcos camp’