The national government will launch a media literacy campaign this year to combat misinformation and disinformation in the digital sphere.
According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) the objective of this campaign is to equip the most vulnerable communities in the Philippines with the information and resources they need to determine the truth.
The PCO will direct the general people to a position of strength where they are able to comprehend and recognize incorrect, misleading, or incomplete information.
“We will work to improve the citizenry’s ability to think critically and analyze information. The first step towards this end is identifying reliable and credible sources of information,” PCO Undersecretary Cherbett Karen Maralit said.
The PCO has been given a mandate by Congress to address the rising concern about false and misleading information, particularly in the digital sphere.
Maralit said that a “thorough” study will be conducted this month to identify the communities in the country where media literacy is most required, tell exactly the social media channels through which these communities are most vulnerable to fake news, and pinpoint the subject matter that misinformation and disinformation focus on most often.
“When we have gathered the results of this study, expectedly by the middle of this year, we will be implementing a nationwide media literacy campaign that will focus on the areas identified,” Maralit said.
To establish effective countermeasures against fake news, Maralit stated that the participation of the private sector and stakeholders in the broadcast industry is necessary.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Canva
