cyrille villanueva,
News. This is what keeps people informed, in the loop, and updated about the various parts of the world and in our country. In this day and age, it is easy to acquire information through technology. Should a person go online, they can search for many different stories and articles about a certain topic.
Now what would happen if the news the public received was not true? Unreliable news, spread like wildfire through the media with the possibility of thousands of people believing what was shown or said, would be disastrous. Information is what leads to actions, and actions that are influenced by misinformation will lead to damaging mistakes.
There is already an existing law in the Revised Penal Code that was amended and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last August 29, 2017. Although it includes the spread of fake news as a crime, Article 154 focuses mostly on the misuse of publications. The fine to be paid by someone who distributes fake news was raised from P200-P1000 to P40K-P200K.
However, last June 21, 2017, Senator Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill 1492 or the Anti-Fake News Bill of 2017 that directly addresses this. It seeks to penalize any person or publication that publishes and distributes false news or information in print, broadcast or online media. False news has been defined as, “those which either intend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence, and hate, or those which exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one's reputation.”
The penalties for the stated misdeeds are fines ranging from P100K to P5M as well as imprisonment ranging from 1 to 5 years. What’s interesting about this bill is that public officials who create or spread fake news would pay twice the amount of the said fines and serve twice the amount of jail time. Here’s the kicker, should it be a public official who is guilty of committing this crime, they are permanently disqualified from holding any public office. If the offender is a mass media enterprise or social media platform that fails to take down the false news, the violators would be fined around P10M to P20M as well as imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years.
However, there are a few weaknesses to this bill. First, this bill would be hard to execute quickly and effectively, especially in social media. There are a lot of users throughout various social media outlets, and many can spread or create fake news. Pinpointing them would require a lot of manpower as well as time to be able to clear them all out. Furthermore, it is easy to make fake accounts or find ways to be untraceable, how then will they be pursued? This will also require additional manpower and time.
A useful addition to this bill would be also focusing on educating the people against spreading fake news, to not be duped easily and to do further research about what they read. Proper education about mindfulness and awareness is what many need.
Should this bill be passed and be effectively handled, this will upturn the current situation the Philippines is suffering: the plague of fake information, a disease truly difficult to combat especially since there are a few known names at the helm.
One of these personalities would be Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson. She creates stories and posts on her Facebook page about various political situations that show clear bias for the Duterte administration even though this might not be true.
It is true that freedom of expression is important and everyone has the right to it, no matter the allegiance, but it is also one’s right to find out the truth and to point out those that spread false information to the public.
There has been an incident where Uson has taken a picture from the internet to forge a story about the situation in Mindanao, where she used a photo of Honduran forces in place of the Philippine Army.
Now you might say that everyone makes mistakes, however that is not enough to defend a mistake of this caliber. As a government official, it is vital to proofread what one posts, especially as a personality who has a massive following. It is one’s duty to tell the truth, not just because it is for one’s own good, but because the people have the right to know.
A public official serves the people, misinforming them will not make them smarter or make their lives better. False information can make the people love you, but an honest official is what it takes to be respected by even those who do not support your cause in the first place. Maybe they’ll even try to listen if one just tries to make more effort in being credible and trustworthy, reaching a compromise between the two parties.
The proliferation of fake news isn’t a one man (or in this case, one woman job), it takes a lot of people who are gullible and uninformed enough to spread the wrong information. It’s easy to read an article and instantly share it with one’s family and friends, but one should make sure that it is true and correct.
Checking the source and making sure it’s reliable through correct research on the topic is one of the primary ways of verifying whether or not a something is true. In the midst of shady websites or distributors of fake news, there are still many reliable sources. Such as official news sites, government websites, and educational platforms.
It takes honest information for people to progress, misinformation will lead to stagnation or even the deterioration of a society. Make the effort to always be informed, in the loop, and updated; to spread honest and trustworthy news with your family and friends! //by Hillary Fajutagana, Rad Pascual, Cyrille Villanueva
Sources:
http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-did-duterte-sign-new-law-criminalizes
https://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/2624822593!.pdf
http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2017/08aug/20170829-RA-10951-RRD.pdf
https://www.rappler.com/nation/180815-duterte-oks-higher-fines-fake-news
http://opinion.inquirer.net/106865/duterte-first-jailed-fake-news-law
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/927102/president-rodrigo-duterte-revised-penal-code-fake-news
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/22/senate-bill-fake-news-fines-government-officials.html
http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2017/0622_villanueva1.asp
Opinion: News that’s new to everyone
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| Photo Credit: Jem Torrecampo and Gail Clemente |
Now what would happen if the news the public received was not true? Unreliable news, spread like wildfire through the media with the possibility of thousands of people believing what was shown or said, would be disastrous. Information is what leads to actions, and actions that are influenced by misinformation will lead to damaging mistakes.
There is already an existing law in the Revised Penal Code that was amended and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last August 29, 2017. Although it includes the spread of fake news as a crime, Article 154 focuses mostly on the misuse of publications. The fine to be paid by someone who distributes fake news was raised from P200-P1000 to P40K-P200K.
However, last June 21, 2017, Senator Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill 1492 or the Anti-Fake News Bill of 2017 that directly addresses this. It seeks to penalize any person or publication that publishes and distributes false news or information in print, broadcast or online media. False news has been defined as, “those which either intend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence, and hate, or those which exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one's reputation.”
The penalties for the stated misdeeds are fines ranging from P100K to P5M as well as imprisonment ranging from 1 to 5 years. What’s interesting about this bill is that public officials who create or spread fake news would pay twice the amount of the said fines and serve twice the amount of jail time. Here’s the kicker, should it be a public official who is guilty of committing this crime, they are permanently disqualified from holding any public office. If the offender is a mass media enterprise or social media platform that fails to take down the false news, the violators would be fined around P10M to P20M as well as imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years.
However, there are a few weaknesses to this bill. First, this bill would be hard to execute quickly and effectively, especially in social media. There are a lot of users throughout various social media outlets, and many can spread or create fake news. Pinpointing them would require a lot of manpower as well as time to be able to clear them all out. Furthermore, it is easy to make fake accounts or find ways to be untraceable, how then will they be pursued? This will also require additional manpower and time.
A useful addition to this bill would be also focusing on educating the people against spreading fake news, to not be duped easily and to do further research about what they read. Proper education about mindfulness and awareness is what many need.
Should this bill be passed and be effectively handled, this will upturn the current situation the Philippines is suffering: the plague of fake information, a disease truly difficult to combat especially since there are a few known names at the helm.
One of these personalities would be Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson. She creates stories and posts on her Facebook page about various political situations that show clear bias for the Duterte administration even though this might not be true.
It is true that freedom of expression is important and everyone has the right to it, no matter the allegiance, but it is also one’s right to find out the truth and to point out those that spread false information to the public.
There has been an incident where Uson has taken a picture from the internet to forge a story about the situation in Mindanao, where she used a photo of Honduran forces in place of the Philippine Army.
Now you might say that everyone makes mistakes, however that is not enough to defend a mistake of this caliber. As a government official, it is vital to proofread what one posts, especially as a personality who has a massive following. It is one’s duty to tell the truth, not just because it is for one’s own good, but because the people have the right to know.
A public official serves the people, misinforming them will not make them smarter or make their lives better. False information can make the people love you, but an honest official is what it takes to be respected by even those who do not support your cause in the first place. Maybe they’ll even try to listen if one just tries to make more effort in being credible and trustworthy, reaching a compromise between the two parties.
The proliferation of fake news isn’t a one man (or in this case, one woman job), it takes a lot of people who are gullible and uninformed enough to spread the wrong information. It’s easy to read an article and instantly share it with one’s family and friends, but one should make sure that it is true and correct.
Checking the source and making sure it’s reliable through correct research on the topic is one of the primary ways of verifying whether or not a something is true. In the midst of shady websites or distributors of fake news, there are still many reliable sources. Such as official news sites, government websites, and educational platforms.
It takes honest information for people to progress, misinformation will lead to stagnation or even the deterioration of a society. Make the effort to always be informed, in the loop, and updated; to spread honest and trustworthy news with your family and friends! //by Hillary Fajutagana, Rad Pascual, Cyrille Villanueva
Sources:
http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-did-duterte-sign-new-law-criminalizes
https://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/2624822593!.pdf
http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2017/08aug/20170829-RA-10951-RRD.pdf
https://www.rappler.com/nation/180815-duterte-oks-higher-fines-fake-news
http://opinion.inquirer.net/106865/duterte-first-jailed-fake-news-law
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/927102/president-rodrigo-duterte-revised-penal-code-fake-news
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/22/senate-bill-fake-news-fines-government-officials.html
http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2017/0622_villanueva1.asp
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