These include not engaging with and not sharing fake content, even if only to point out that it’s wrong, since this adds to engagement and social media platforms see it as a signal for relevance, said Max Limpag, a journalist and blogger in Cebu who also co-founded digital media company InnoPub Media.

“Even adding an angry emoji to express your disagreement with a fake news content is adding to its engagement. If you increase engagement, you increase virality and you help spread it,” he added.

Limpag was one of the speakers in the #CyberSmart Cybersecurity virtual caravans, a series of interactive online events initiated by PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart). 

In today’s COVID-19 crisis, fake news is dangerous and can even be fatal, Limpag said, citing an NPR interview with Fadi Quran, campaign director at Avaaz which studies disinformation. Quran said during the interview that a single piece of disinformation about concentrated alcohol being able to kill the coronavirus has caused the hospitalization of 6,000 people and killed 800. 

He also cited the need to differentiate fake news from articles with errors in reporting or news stories that a reader doesn’t agree with, pointing out that these require different solutions: Correct mistakes but fight disinformation.

There are tools available on social media networks like Facebook for reporting fake news, and educators can point students to SpotTheTroll.org which is a handy site for learning how to spot fake online personas.

#CyberSmart talks, virtual games

The #CyberSmart activity included a series of TED-style talks held on September 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 that included such topics as Data Privacy and Cybersecurity, Internet Safety, Online Child Safety, Spotting and Combating Fake News, Computer and Mobile Protection, Online Phishing and Scams, and Responsible Use of Social Media. 

Limpag, who talked about Spotting and Combating Fake News, said that instead of engaging with fake content, a better approach would be to call out friends sharing it through a private message. He added that if there’s really a need to share a post to point out errors, use a screenshot of it instead.

The #CyberSmart CyberSecurity activities were undertaken in partnership with the Department of Education and held throughout National Teachers’ Month from Sept. 5 to October 5, 2020. 

Event participants included teachers and students from all over the country. They were also treated to interactive booths that used such experiential and immersive digital technology as virtual and augmented reality, mobile applications, and social engineering to promote cyber safety. These included virtual games using a 360-degree digital room, game show set-up, and racing track with pit stops.

Spotting fake news, trolls

Limpag also cited some things to consider when judging authenticity of content: if the person sharing it is trustworthy, ensuring it’s not a satire or humor website, opening the actual article to determine the website address, checking if its a .com or .org or .ph since owning a server is a minimum requirement for publications. 

A byline or authorship information to identify the writer of the article, the publication’s About page, fact-checking websites to verify articles and reports like Snopes, Politifact, and VeraFiles are other useful resources for verifying information as well.
 
Limpag said that more details about content and its sources can even be found using whois.domaintools.com, which provides information on domain owner or website address. Getting more info about a photo can be done at tineye.com, which determines if it has been used somewhere else and where, and at pic2map.com, which reads the data within the picture to show where this has been taken. 

Virality of falsehoods

Citing a Twitter study, Limpag said falsehoods and made up stories are usually more exciting and people want to share them more, which is why they go viral or spread quickly and widely.

The study, published in 2018 and based on 126,000 news stories tweeted by 3 million people from 2006 to 2017, showed that fake tweets were 70 percent more likely to be reshared than factual updates.

According to him, the spread of misinformation will only get worse, and there are even new tools now that allow to easily fake videos and these could only get more powerful and sophisticated. 

“Don’t believe everything you see on social media. It is also our responsibility - individually and collectively - not to be deceived by disinformation and fight fake news,” he stressed.

Limpag said the best way to do this is to always be skeptical and verify information at all times.