Media and Information Literacy 

Case Study

Ravenlee N. So Hiong
Grade 12 Romans

MIL Teacher:
Veniz Timpug Tamargo
 1. How was Mr. Nestor Punzalan affected by being wrongfully accused
in social media as the suspect in the said shooting incident?

His life, as well as the lives of his wife and the rest of his family, are
being affected. He stated that he had done nothing wrong. He chose to
deactivate all of his social media accounts in order to avoid more threats from
other users. Though the news is wrong, his life is no longer peaceful simply
because of false information provided by the Internet. Because he was falsely
charged as the culprit in the aforementioned shooting event, his image to the
public has been destroyed, and they send threats to him. It's unfortunate that
the innocent in the said shooting incident is the one getting bashed and
receiving threats.

2. What is the liability of Top Gear, other media outlets, and netizens
who wrongfully accused Mr. Nestor Punzalan as the suspect in the
said shooting incident?

In terms of human rights, Mr. Nestor Punzalan can file a complaint or

hire a lawyer for his case. Top Gear Philippines should no longer have the right
to spread information on social media. It has a serious responsibility towards
Top Gear, which is the provider of the false claims about the suspect in the
abovementioned shooting incident, Mr. Punzalan. The person who posted the
fake news can be accused of accusing Mr. Punzalan of a crime without any
sufficient proof that will show the crime of the accused Mr. Punzalan in the
stated shooting event. Top Gear
should take responsibility, clear the name of Mr. Punzalan in the public eye,
and apologize to him.

3. What role was played by citizen journalism and social media in this
incident?

They are only acting judgmentally. They are completely unaware of the
truth regarding the incident and Vhon Tanto, the real criminal. They didn’t
even bother checking before accepting what Top Gear posted. Improperly notify
others who have nothing to do with the situation. Perhaps the citizen
journalism is trying to attract attention because there isn’t much proof
connecting Mr. Punzalan to the shooting, and the author didn’t consider this
before releasing the false information.

4. What positive and negative effects of media and information on

individual and society were evident in this incident?

Social media makes it easier for us to get information from a variety of

sources, but some of it may not be accurate, which might result in
misunderstandings and negative outcomes. The media and information have
both positive and negative effects on people and society. On the positive side,
social media can produce or provide a lot of information about everything that
happened in the world around us, such as what happened to Mr. Punzalan.
Top Gear wrongly identified Mr. Punzalan as the suspect in the aforementioned
shooting incident, but by using social media, we can share the true
information. On the other hand, the negative effects of social media and
information can also produce fake news or incorrect information, as happened
to Mr. Punzalan when Top Gear accused him on social media. As a result, the
information could easily spread on social media, causing all users to see the
incorrect information.

5. How can we prevent this kind of incident as experienced by Mr.

Punzalan from happening in the future?

To avoid such an act, people should be cautious when posting

information on social media platforms. Make sure that the information is
accurate and not biased. Before saying anything that could have an effect on
ourselves, we should think about it first. We can’t easily prevent this kind of
situation or incident like what Mr. Punzalan experienced as long as we have
social media in this world. We can’t prevent what happened to Mr. Punzalan
from happening to other people now or later. The only thing we can do is help,
not judge, and not mind other people’s lives.

6. What important lessons can we learn from this event as a social

media user?

Since a lot of people may see what you post and share on social media
platforms, we should think twice and double-check the information we post.
This kind of incident is common on social media, but unlike Mr. Punzalan, we
social media users tend to quickly judge others or post things on social media
about which we are unsure of their reliability. What we see and read on social
media is not always right.