Information as sacred

“WE have entered the era of ‘fake news’.” This was the comment I heard from a colleague in local government last week. He was reacting to the radio broadcast of the hearing in the Senate called by the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.

The hearing featured a tense exchange of accusations among government executives and social media bloggers from opposing side of the political fence. The discussion seemed to have highlighted the alarming proliferation of what has come to be termed as “fake news.”

In the public discussion triggered by this phenomenon, an interesting view arose: That there is no such thing as “fake news” – that there simply is “news” and plain falsehood.

The idea of “fake news” seems to have been merely triggered by the availability of technology that allow unscrupulous parties to create fake news sites. Such sites create the impression that the falsehoods being spread are legitimate news items. We subscribe to the view. It appears that since time immemorial, there has been a raging battle between Truth and Falsehood. The latter has made great use of the time-tested techniques of misinformation, disinformation, deception, and outright lying.

Caught in between this longrunning battle are the people’s hearts and minds.

Many have been collateral damage.

For example, the question has long been asked as to whether or not the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was himself a victim of what many call today “fake news.” It will be recalled Dr. Rizal was sentenced to die by musketry based on the crime of treason. He was accused of founding an organization whose only purpose was the overthrow of the colonial government, and of fomenting rebellion.

Wherever his prosecutors based such accusations would have been a late 1800s version of “fake news” since Dr. Rizal was clear that he was a reformist rather than a violent revolutionary. The revolution he advocated as an “internal” one – that which dealt with the “overthrow” of ignorance through education.

Further down in history, another major personality became a victim of “fake news.”

His name was Jesus of Nazareth. His accusers said he was guilty of treason against the Roman Emperor. The Gospel of Luke narrates the accusations by His persecutors based on falsehood:

“We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar and claiming that he himself is Christ, a king.”

Even much earlier, a woman fell victim to deception. She was reportedly told by the Serpent that the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was harmless, and that she could take a bite without suffering any adverse consequence.

That was, of course, an outright lie. By allowing herself to be deceived, she caused mankind to be estranged from the Creator.

The fact is that Truth as embodied in accurate information should be held sacred.

Distorting Truth always has dire consequences.

Information is sacred because it is the basis for the daily decisions we make, big, and small.

It is the basis of what we decide to buy. To eat. To use.

It is the basis of what we decide to avoid. To discard. To reject.

It is the basis of where we decide to invest our money. Where to spend it and how.

It is the basis of who we decide to vote for and to lead/govern our lives and our communities.

Wrong or inaccurate information will, therefore, put those decisions at serious risk.

And, those who feed us with wrong and inaccurate information based on malice are toying not just with our decisions but also with our very lives.

It appears that the increasing proliferation of wrong and inaccurate information in the country has to do with the unending and intensifying political conflict. This is a “shoot-out” where we may have been caught in the middle of. We must avoid being caught in the crossfire and becoming collateral damage.

Realizing that modern technology has allowed the tools for misinformation and disinformation to become more sophisticated, we must now look for new and better tools to obtain right and accurate information.

Sadly, social media, as we know it today, may no longer be a reliable source of that kind of information.