Commonfolk Lies

How do widespread lies affect our current society?

Agendas, Biases, and Random Urges: The Power of Commonfolk Lies

Juancho Abad

Have you ever stopped to consider how much of your daily life has been consumed by different voices and personalities on social media? After that, have you ever thought of fact-checking whatever they're saying? There are many factors to the spread of the different forms of misinformation in the Philippines, but a major factor of it nowadays remains to be social media.

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Photo from: Rappler

Social media's roots dive deep now to the point that it has even reached the political world of the Philippines affecting many voters' thoughts and opinions on many candidates. Normally, this would be considered a normal thing since it's just candidates promoting themselves to a wider audience, but of course, not everything is that simple and there will always be people who will take advantage of that new wider audience.

The spreading of false information has become a major aspect now during the elections due to how it can be used not just to one candidate's benefit, but also to discredit the other candidate. With the 2022 elections as an example, much propaganda was released against candidate Leni Robredo with most statements and so-called evidence being proven false with further research.

Photo from: Rappler

Although proven false, the damage was already done. This led to her losing a lot of her audience; with many moving to support her opponent in the elections due to the use of the same methods to gain their favor

Photo from: Spot.ph

Photo from: Fulcrum.sg

Photo from: nytimes.com

If you wonder what could be the reason for such a distribution of all this false propaganda, it isn't only online bots; rather it is also the people who use it. The biggest contributors of which being social media or online influencers who have built followings that they use to spread whatever information they wish, and more often than not, have been paid to spread.

Once again using the 2022 elections as an example, social media influencers and those who consume that media have proven to be a major factor in how public opinion changes. Just a simple video of someone spreading their thoughts online based on false rumors can be enough to shift the perspective of their audience because of how their videos are set up. It's more personal for a watcher than a politician facing them directly.

Other than this, people who know they are spreading false information but continue to do so also exist with the common reasons for such being payment, popularity, and pushing their agendas/beliefs on others. This "brainwashing" can lead to many people being affected and stances changed all based on false premises; the worst possibility of this is those same viewers spreading this false information further, which is now what normally happens

Aside from the political world, the spread of false information can still affect communities even in their local areas with a prime example of this being how false claims have spread so well when it is about weather or disasters. Though it might seem hard to spread false information about something so easily accessible as information on these, one must realize that it is now so much easier to see information as soon as you open any social media site, and majority of the public would never think to double-check such inforomation until it is much too late.

Photo taken from Rappler

An example of this was the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Mindanao in 2019 wherein many buildings were left devastated. Following this, unverified information about a tsunami warning spread like wildfire across multiple cities forcing their LGUs to issue evacuations. In response to this PAGASA issued a warning to people to double-check the information they receive and reassured the public that no such warning was ever issued urgently by the organization.

Another example being the COVID-19 epidemic which truly showed how well false information can spread throughout the public just because of how easily people are willing to believe in things when situations turn dire. Fake news and unverified information became a normality during these times, shaping the mindset of many people to believe different things without making sure if what they have heard has any foundation or substance to it.

Photo taken from The New York Times

The effects of the Mindanao earthquake: a building southwest of Davao post-earthquake

Photo taken from Inquirer.net

DOH responds to the widespread of fake news concerning COVID-19 and urges public to only trust reliable and verified sources

Afterword:

It can not be denied that it is true that most people who are caught in these cases are merely misinformed or have no malicious intent with the things they spread, but that is just a testament to how well information -false or true- can be spread nowadays. The world is no longer as simple as accepting information for face value out of trust, and we must come to realize this. Media literacy should no longer be a niche topic for the public rather it should be taken as seriously as cybersecurity and education because in these times of a technology-dependent society, media literacy now takes a major role in not just our own lives but the lives of other as well.

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