Sinimulan nang imbestigahan ng Senado ang umano’y pagkalat ng ‘fake news’ o mga hindi totoong balita.
Sa opening statement ni Senator Grace Poe, Chairperson ng Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, binigyang diin nito ang kalakip na panganib na dala ng mga maling balita partikular sa pag-determina ng magiging opinyon ng publiko.
Aniya layunin ng pagdinig na malabanan ang pagkalat ng mga maling impormasyon na may malaking epekto sa komunidad.
“This nation is churning out fake news in an industrial scale. While it seems that manufacturing is down, fake news factories are booming. While agricultural output is low, that of troll farms is high. Fake accounts are able to sway public opinion, shape civic discourse, affect social interaction and influence government.” Pahayag ni Poe
Babala ni Poe posibleng pagmulan ng kultura ng pagsisinungaling kung mapapabayaan ang problema sa fake news.
“If unchecked, fake news cultivates a culture of lying. If purveyors are allowed to get away with the lies, they embolden government officials to also lie in order to escape accountability, crush dissent, and commit illegal acts with immunity.”
“If fake news is not challenged, it will create lynch mobs out of certain people turning them into an army of character assassins that can be unleashed with one meme to destroy an idea, a person or an institution.”
“Ang maling online behavior ay pwedeng maging ugali natin sa tunay na buhay, we should be cautious.” Dagdag ni Poe
Matatandaang nag-ugat ang nasabing pagdinig matapos na kumalat ang umano’y fake blog na mula sa Silent No More PH laban sa pitong senador na sinasabing sinadyang hindi pumirma sa isang resolusyon kontra extrajudicial killings na inihain naman ni Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
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