Essay Sample: Fake News and Misinformation on Social Media

Fake news has been a huge problem in our country and even worldwide. According to a site, Slangit, it refers to news outlets that pretend to be real but are actually fake. According to Statista Research Department data, more than 80% of Filipinos believe that fake news in the media is a serious problem as of 2021. Our technology today, there are many social media platforms that can be an outlet for the spread of fake news. Almost everyone may use social media platforms to share their opinions or stories with the rest of the world. There are platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and many more. These platforms are used by many people, which increases the possibility of spreading fake news faster. Even the Philippines' president, Duterte, said in one of his meetings that we cannot control fake news. Until today, fake news is still an ongoing issue, especially during the 2022 election period in the Philippines.

According to one social media user, Jon, he can consider himself a troll or a social media marketing consultant. He claimed that politicians like governors, congressmen, and mayors hired him to spread fake stories. This is really alarming since, because of these “trolls”, many people could be affected. With the help of fake news, the views of people change and can become biased. Because of this uncontrollable issue, many people are searching for a solution. However, President Duterte has stated that a law prohibiting fake news will not be passed in Congress. In one of his meetings, Duterte said that freedom of expression would be constitutional and that he was sure that they couldn’t pass a law against the spread of fake news. With all this, we must learn how to determine and avoid fake news.

There are many ways to determine and avoid fake news. First, we must have self-awareness and knowledge as a reader as well as a communicator to others. As a reader, we must know how to examine if a given piece of information is true or fake. This will be key to being a good communicator with others. People also serve as information spreaders. Therefore, as communicators to others, we must know the credibility of the information we are sharing. Also, in order to determine and avoid fake news, we must know the quality of credible sources. It must have enough evidence presented. According to the Mind Tools Content Team (2020), this could be a quote from experts, official statistics, or survey data. There are also a lot of sources that can be trusted. Based on data compiled by Statista Research Department (2021), GMA Network, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, TV5, and Philippine Inquirer are some of the leading news outlets in the Philippines. Knowing these reliable sources will help the reader identify fake news that is spreading online.

All in all, we get to know fake news, its effects as well as how to avoid it. I’ve realized that we may not be able to completely eradicate the spread of fake news, but we can slow down the spread of news in our own ways. We’ve been informed of the sources that we can trust in getting news information. With all the fake news that is scattered on different social media platforms, we can use our knowledge on how to examine if a piece of news is fake. With that, we can conclude that the ability to determine whether or not news is fake is extremely useful in one's life.