In the most sarcastic tone possible, “isn’t it crazy that strangers can lie on the internet?” That line is a personal favorite because of the irony that it places forth. With the anonymous nature of the internet, it is generally expected that, despite being a platform rich with information with no form of safeguards in place, there will be areas where the information may be less than truthful. More colloquially known as “fake news”, this has always been a point of contention, especially in the Philippines.

Fake news has always been the buzzword or the alleged reason for several other issues in the country. It has been alluded to as the catalyst for controversial election results, propaganda as a whole, misinformation, and every issue that is rooted in either knowledge restriction or otherwise. This, more so, has been amplified due to how easy it is to hide one’s identity on the internet itself, and continues to pose a problem today.

The best way for us to combat any form of fake news is to properly understand what it is in the first place. The skill of thorough discernment is one of the most important things to hone and utilize when navigating something as dynamic and volatile as the internet.

If we look at its core and the number of repercussions that it could lead to, fake news can either be used to push an agenda or to cover up an event. Its nature evolved this way due to what social media has become in recent times. It has become somewhat like a dystopian wasteland where rules no longer exist and the rarest commodity everyone craves is attention, clicks, and engagement.

On one hand, it’s easy to push a certain agenda online because of how easily people tend to accept and believe information if they are exposed to enough of it from multiple sources. With how easy it is to post on the very public social media platforms, this is simple to do.

On the other hand, with the same measure, it is just as easy to cover up information or events with the right falsified stories. Even the slightest rumor from one well-known social media account would be able to turn the tides of the conversations either away or towards a certain agenda. Public perception can also be altered in this way.

With how fake news is, it’s important to understand and realize that no matter how chronically online an individual may be, they are not immune to fake news. Confirmation bias is still something to consider when trying to discern what is fake from what is real. It is important that there is importance placed on joint efforts to combat this, such as X’s community notes, where people may fact-check each other’s tweets on the platform.

Even without features such as the community, it is important that the skill of fact-checking be developed. Double and even triple-checking information should come as second nature whenever we reference any bit of information or make any strong claims. It’s a small effort, but it would help make the Internet a safer place.

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The preceding statement relates to a press release from Capstone-Intel Corporation.