On fake news

I woke up last weekend to a panicking neighborhood. Allegedly, one of our neighbors who works in an electric company brought home several individuals from Barangay Hippodromo. The subdivision immediately implemented their own version of a lockdown - the gates were closed, and nobody was allowed to walk or jog past 6 p.m. Only those with car stickers are allowed entry and food delivery should be lessened. I wanted to find out the truth myself only to note that the individuals were a family who has been living there for some time already. The wrong news only caused undue anxiety to all of us living in that little dome of a village.

Fake news has been causing anxiety not only to us in that situation but to everyone in this time of the coronavirus. Word spreads faster than a fire. Word that isn’t even verified true. Why? Because we are a people naturally inclined to believe stories whether true or false. We somehow have lost the initiative to find out if it’s true or not. That’s why there’s a lot of wailing and crying for help for the wrong reasons.

A talked to two people from Sitio Zapatera, Barangay Luz, where the "epicenter" of the virus is in Cebu City. They have been crying foul over social media posts that there are people escaping from their sitio and that they should all be burned since they are already infected. When the city implemented a lockdown in the area, they claimed that it was already impossible for them to go out with the authorities guarding them like a hawk 24/7. Also, telling them that they should be burned is an insult to them.

But the case of Miss Beltran is different. When she posted publicly on her social media page that there are 9,000-plus COVID-19 cases in Sitio Zapatera, the local government went berserk and she was apprehended. The basis was her fake news. This prompted a couple of her supporters to rally behind her, saying that her post was purely satirical. While that may be true, it’s hard to draw the line now with the current situation that we are in. Good for the government, because they can go after whoever they want. But those living in the shanties of Sitio Zapatera, can't go after those who offended them on social media.

Whatever it is, we must all be responsible and not be bearers of fake news. Today is such a challenging and tiring time as well. Journalists are burned out - we are looking for options to reveal the truth without risking our own health. But then the public chooses to believe and laugh with those who are posting otherwise. Let the authorities speak, and use your freedom of speech wisely. We can say what we want but we should be sensitive to how others may feel.