Fake news threat to Phl democracy – De Lima
Sen. Leila de Lima warned on Tuesday that the proliferation of fake news is a threat to the country’s democracy but is apparently tolerated by the Duterte administration to divert attention from scandals involving government officials and extrajudicial killings.
In a privilege speech, De Lima said she herself continues to be a victim of fake news, being the “favorite whipping girl” of the administration. She cited fake news about her resignation from the Senate, being punched in the face by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II or even committing suicide.
Her special child, ailing mother and other family members were also not spared from insulting and demeaning fake news, De Lima said, adding that the false reports are complemented by trolls or paid bashers in social media websites. “Fake news went from being so absurd that it cannot be taken seriously, to something that is getting more and more indistinguishable from the real thing — so much so that netizens, public officials and even seasoned journalists are falling for them,” De Lima said.
“But what is most disturbing is the evident fact that this escalation is not happening by chance. Fake news articles these days are, in fact, deliberately being manufactured, delivered and spread around in ways that disguise their fakeness, with the clear intent to fool people,” she said.
She said the ones who benefit from these fake news are the ones most likely to be actively working towards their proliferation.
She said the escalation of fake news was intended to deodorize the “war on drugs,” which she described as “nothing but a continuing shameless, dishonorable, cowardly and lazy act of serial killing and butchering of the vulnerable, the poor, our economically and socially challenged brothers and sisters by the very people who are responsible for their well-being.”
The same escalation was also apparently meant to downplay the P50-million bribery scandal involving Aguirre and officials of the Bureau of Immigration as well as the administration’s “curious and suspicious cowering and kowtowing to Chinese authorities.”