CAUSES OF DISINFORMATION

1. Social Media Disinformation

In today's time, where technology is emerging, and information travels faster than
light, social media has been a platform where disinformation has been prevalent and is
difficult to filter. Internet trolls would spread fake news about certain personalities,
particularly politicians, in a bid to reduce their credibility. These acts make it harder for
credible leaders to get elected in democratic seats and solve societal issues since trolls
use different forms to express their ideas. Numerous Philippines online news outlets,
bloggers, and vloggers utilize sensational titles and clickbait topics to get more views
and clicks in hopes of misleading through an inaccurate news article; this fosters a
climate in which false and exaggerated news reports are more likely to be spread and
accepted (Lalu, 2022). Aside from this, social media platforms such as Facebook and
Tiktok have been used as essential platforms for disinformation, where trolls have used
memes and other entertaining media to campaign against a candidate negatively and
spread disinformation to the masses (Quitzon, 2021).

Sources:

Quitzon, J. (2021).Social Media Misinformation and the 2022 Philippine Elections.

Center for Strategic and International Studies.
https://www.csis.org/blogs/new-perspectives-asia/social-media-misinformation-and-2022
-philippine-elections

Lalu, G. P. (2022, October 11). 'Fake news' a problem in ph? 9 in 10 Filipinos agree,
says pulse Asia. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1678248/fake-news-a-problem
-in-ph-9-in-10-filipinos-agree-says-pulse-asia

2. Political Polarization

Political polarization is the increasing divide between people of different political

beliefs, leading to an extreme and divisive political climate (Iyengar et al., 2012). This
can cause disinformation as individuals are likely to spread false information just to
prove their point. For instance, in examining the Twitter activity of Americans,
researchers found out how Republicans seek out and rely on fake news to validate their
beliefs (Osmundsen et al., 2021). Hence, due to the political polarization present in the
country, people become motivated in sharing news articles that are consistent with their
political views, even if such articles come from questionable sources.
Such is also seen in the Philippines, especially during campaign and election
season. For instance, ever since the impeachment of Marcos Sr. from the seat of
presidency and the election of Corazon Aquino as president soon after the People
Power Revolution I, Filipinos who supported the former were classified as “pro-Marcos,”
while the latter as “pro-Aquinos.” Moreover, this also led to the stereotype that when you
are “anti-Marcos,” you are automatically perceived as “pro-Aquinos” or “dilawans” and
vice versa. Because of this mindset, Filipinos tend to think that politics is simply Marcos
vs Aquino; that in order for their political group to “win,” rampant disinformation is seen
as the most successful weapon for this to become possible.
Digging deeper into this, it seems that political polarization encourages, as well, a
competitive mindset, wherein people tend to think that the political group they identify
themselves in must dominate the opposing side no matter what, lest they see
themselves lose or have their ego stepped upon. This gets amplified when survey polls
are also shown regarding the number of supporters of each candidate. Hence, since
people want to be on the “winning side,” they tend to resort to disseminating and
perpetuating false information in order to influence other people to side with them and do
the same.

Sources:
Iyengar, S., Sood, G., & Lelkes, Y. (2012). Affect, not ideology: A social identity
perspective on polarization. Public Opinion Quarterly, 76(3), 405-431.

Osmundsen, M., Petersen, M. B., & Bor, A. (2021, May 13). How partisan
polarization drives the spread of fake news. Brookings. Retrieved February 17, 2023,
from
https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/how-partisan-polarization-drives-the-spread-of-fak
e-news/
 3. Limited media literacy

Media literacy refers to the capability to understand, scrutinize, judge, and create
various forms of communication, and in relation to disinformation, this skill involves the
capacity to determine the reliability of received information and its source, identify the
use of metaphors and symbols in entertainment, advertising, and political discourse, and
utilize critical thinking to evaluate the accuracy of information from different sources
(Welsh & Wright, 2010). The Philippines ranks 2nd when it comes to spending the most
time on social media which includes streaming content, nevertheless, a significant
proportion of users lack media literacy skills, making them susceptible to false
information and manipulations (Baclig, 2022). To enable people to distinguish between
reliable information and disinformation, and safeguard the integrity of democratic
processes, efforts to promote media literacy are therefore crucial.

Sources:

Baclig, C. E. (2022, April 29). Social media, internet craze keep ph on top 2 of world list.
INQUIRER.net. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1589845/social-media-internet-craze-keep-ph-on-top-2-of-w
orld-list.

Welsh, T. S., & Wright, M. S. (2010). Media literacy and visual literacy. Information
Literacy in the Digital Age, 107–121. doi:10.1016/b978-1-84334-515-2.50009-3.

SUGGESTED WORKING TITLES:

1. Social Media Disinformation: The Platform of Fake News which skewed the Philippine
Elections
2. Disinformation: The Puppet Show
3. The Weaponization of Information: Investigating the Impact of Disinformation in the
Philippine Society and Politics