Fight against disinformation gains ground in Caraga’s intelligence committee
By PIA Caraga
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Caraga cascaded the “Maging Mapanuri Campaign” to the members of the Caraga Regional Intelligence Committee (RIC) during their recent Joint RIC-Enhanced RIC 13 meeting in Butuan City.
“Information is a powerful tool. But, there are groups and individuals who use information, with the aid of digital technology such as artificial intelligence, to bring threat and unrest to the country and create confusion, panic and division among the Filipinos,” said PIA Caraga Assistant Regional Head Renelle L. Escuadro, as resource speaker.
She briefed the members of the intelligence committee on the Maging Mapanuri as the government’s program in the fight against disinformation as one of the most pressing concerns of the country, amid the sophistication and fast-expanding use of digital technology, especially in social media. “The Maging Mapanuri Campaign promotes information literacy and ensures a safer, more informed and connected society.”
Information pollution
“In information literacy, we are more effective if we are specific in spotting the nature of the information and we refrain from using general terms,” she added.
She encouraged the participants to be vigilant and start appreciating the three types of information pollution: Misinformation is the unintentional spread of false or inaccurate information. It often arises from mistakes, misunderstandings, or misrepresentations and can occur in various forms, such as rumors.
Disinformation, on the other hand, involves the intentional spread of false information with the intent to deceive or manipulate. Tactics may include the creation of false stories, doctored images, and misleading narratives.
Mal-information consists of the dissemination of true information but with malicious intent, such as sharing private or confidential data without consent. It can lead to harm, invasion of privacy, or reputational damage.
She encouraged the members of the intelligence committee to be mindful of and verify the source, purpose, owner and the timeliness of the information to ensure accuracy and relevance prior to dissemination.
Also, the resource speaker introduced the pivotal role of fact-checking to help address the rampant cases of disinformation in social media. “Fact-checking is a significant task where one has to proactively verify the accuracy of an information – a statement, photo or image and video and correct them if they fall as information pollution.”
She shared some online sites and tools for fact-checking that are helpful in verifying statements, images or photos, videos, among others.
Meanwhile, the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit – Philippine National Police (RACU-PNP) Caraga supported PIA’s advocacy as it also briefed the attendees with a discussion on information exploitation utilizing the social media platform. It shared some of the specialized and advanced tools used by its office to investigate complaints against information pollution, falling as cybercrime and violation of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Bracing Maging Mapanuri Campaign
Regional Director Bonifacio Pulgo of NICA Caraga, chairperson of the Caraga RIC-ERIC said, “Our agenda today includes empowering the committee members in the stride to solve the multi-dimensional problems and emerging threats that our country is now facing, particularly on misinformation, disinformation and mal-information.”
He added that information pollution poses a serious risk to national security and public stability. “It is essential that we proactively look into the region’s situation on its prevalence, whether we have perpetrators here or victims, and address them.”
The members agreed, during the meeting on August 19, to closely monitor social media platforms containing information pollution, especially those significant to the region’s peace and security.
With the pivotal role of information in strengthening the intelligence mechanism of the region, the Caraga Regional Intelligence Committee also approved the motion to make PIA Caraga its official member.
This new endeavor motivated PIA Caraga, a stalwart in information literacy and a sturdy frontline in accurate and timely information, to expand the reach of the government’s steadfast effort in the fight against disinformation. (RLE, PIA Caraga)
