TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho ‘Icot’ Petilla has called for the integration of media literacy into the basic education curriculum to counter the spread of fake news and misinformation.
“Fake news will not spread if people are not vulnerable. The reason why it prospers is because people are susceptible,” he said.
Petilla pointed out that disinformation, misinformation, and malformation often come from content creators whose sources are not verifiable. He emphasized that reliable mainstream news organizations remain the most credible sources of news and information.
“It’s not just about policing those who publish fake news; we also need to focus on educating our people. I haven’t heard of any seminar in schools or elsewhere that teaches how to distinguish fake news from real news, and I believe it should be part of the curriculum because young people tend to believe in it,” Petilla stressed.
Misinformation refers to false or misleading information shared without the intent to deceive while disinformation refers to false or misleading information that is deliberately created and spread to deceive people.
Malinformation, meanwhile, refers to a genuine information that is shared with the intent to cause harm. It often involves taking truthful content out of context.
Gov. Petilla suggested that aside from schools, government offices should also implement programs to train employees on how to identify fake news. With the internet now easily accessible through mobile devices, the rapid spread of misinformation has become a major concern.
The governor added that if people were well-educated in fact-checking, there would be no need for congressional inquiries and hearings on fake news proliferation.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
