1. University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Molino, Bacoor City, Philippines.

*             Correspondence: jovz2019@gmail.com

Keywords: social media, websites, fake news, Catholic Church, bishop’s conference, Philippines

1. INTRODUCTION

Social media and digital communications are effective means to inform other people. These platforms are part of the daily human activities.  Many people find them useful in gathering authentic and truthful information [1].  Add the advantages of social media as powerful tools in shaping values while engaging with motivational contents that can teach gratitude, kindness, respect, and self-confidence in expressing potentials. Thus, once they are used well, they can contribute to integral human development. On the other hand, with all these conveniences, negative effects of social media tend to arise [2].  This is through fabricated, dishonest, malicious and untruthful information which are being circulated in different sites.  Unfortunately, users exposed on different platforms are not spared from receiving such information [3].  And the result of this is wrongful assimilation of truth that affects people’s survival, well-being and development. Moreover, the improper use of social media has already led to many problems [4]. Netizens become too exposed to criticisms and psychological anguish, emotional stress, and experience of depression.  It becomes a problematic and dangerous place that tends to destroy reputation of other people through cyber bullying, black operations, propaganda, and even derailment of objectivity and truth. The so-called ‘bashers and haters’ in social media also contribute to the decreasing sense of charity [5]. More than ever, it violates the rights and sense of privacy of many people.  Wrong facts or false information given about certain situations or personalities also don’t serve the people of claiming their right to information. These are created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers [6]. With this, social media has become a testimony to people’s ethical and moral regression showing the decline of human values such as courtesy, kindness, cultural tolerance, openness, and treating others with respect. Therefore, its purpose of exercising good manners and polite attitude towards others have become of lesser value in the arena of social media and communications [7].  Nowadays, one of the major issues that confront the social communications media is the proliferation of fake news. What is this fake news?  “Fake news has penetrated the world of mass media that it is in the public attention now, occupying the media space.  It has been considered a great threat and cause of an increasing moral panic in the information technology [8]. Thus many have blamed the social and mainstream media as the source of fake news on a novel level.” Moreover, “the plague of fake news not only poses serious threats to the integrity of journalism, but has also created turmoil’s in the political world [9].  The worst real- world impact is that it seems to create real-life fears, too.”  With all these false information or fake news that is rampant over the social media feeds, Pope Francis says, “the tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others and presents them as enemies to the point of demonizing them. Indeed, fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes that leads to the spread of arrogance and hatred [10]. Thus, many consider fake news as a global problematic phenomenon for it has caused a great significant problem affecting the lives of ordinary people [11]. Incorporated in the study is the reality of circulating fake news, troll accounts, propaganda pages, political post and fake social media accounts and websites in the Philippines.  These kinds of activities of self-centered individuals who engaged in this uncharitable acts primarily affects journalism industry, brings disunity among others, supports political propaganda and destroys people’s lives [12]. The Senate Bill No. 1492 or the Anti-Fake News Act in the Philippines, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility/ National Union of Journalists of the Philippine (CMFR/NUJP) and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) list the websites that contain fake or unverified content. Given these lists, Filipinos believe the existence of fake news in different social media platforms.  This is the reason why government, private sectors, media organizations and the Bishops of the Philippines make a move concerning this matter because of the possible harmful effects it brings to many people.  Thus, creation of fact-checking sites is established [13]. Among them is the Vera Files that collect and verify fake news samples in various websites. With different samples of news that are posted in many sites, the researcher is convinced that the spread of several false information or fake news in the Philippines is indeed happening [14]. Thus, the researcher wanted to analyze the fake news gathered from Vera files through the aid of certain principles and elements that are used to verify the extent of their authenticity or falsity. In doing this, the researcher seeks to claim the rights of people to receive correct, truthful and authentic information. Pope Paul VI also recognizes that every human being has the right to objective news information [15]. This right to information is “enabling him to know and understand things, to develop himself, to take his destiny into his hands more surely and to participate in the construction of the city with a sense of enlightened responsibility.” This goes the same way with what St. Pope John XXIII mentions in his encyclical Pacem in Terris that everybody must be accurately informed about public events. In the society, the proper exercise of people’s right to information demands news that is always true, decent, proper and complete [16]. It must be transmitted and exercised within the bounds of justice and charity. This only means that in both searching for news and in reporting them, there must be an asset to the norms of morality and respect for the legitimate rights and dignity of the human person. People must be given free and right access both to the sources and channels of information. In addition, they must also be allowed to freely express their own views and opinions [17]. However, attached to these rights are their duties to live out the stipulations of the eighth commandment that forbids the misrepresentation of truth?   Thus, the Church recognizes that the right to information is very essential in the development of both the people and the society. For this reason, the Church provides guidance to the human society by making people aware of their human responsibility towards the ethical and moral use of the social media today [18]. After observing the growing trend of fake news particularly in the Philippines, the researcher deemed it timely to look into the ways by which the Church can present its teaching on right to information in a way that can awaken people’s interest towards a moral and ethical use of the social media [19]. It is hoped that this study becomes a paradigm to educate people in addressing fake news within the bounds of morality and thus, social media become a vehicle to foster truth in the society today [20].

2. CATHOLIC CHURCH’S PRINCIPLE ON ETHICAL MEDIA EDUCATION

2.1 The Catholic Teaching on the Right to Information

The Catholic Church has long emphasized the importance of the right to information, and this teaching can be a powerful tool in combating the spread of fake news, which is a significant issue in the Philippines [21]. This discussion focuses on exploring the Church’s principles regarding the right to information and how they relate to the current phenomenon of fake news. The Church’s teachings on the right to information provide a moral framework for understanding the importance of truthful and accurate information. In the context of fake news, this framework can help individuals discern between reliable and unreliable sources, and make informed decisions about the information they consume and share [22]. By examining the Church’s views on the right to information, this research aims to assess whether these principles can serve as a paradigm for ethical and moral education in the age of social media. The goal is to promote a culture of truth, accuracy, and responsibility in online interactions, and to provide guidance on how to navigate the complexities of information sharing in the digital age. Ultimately, this discussion seeks to highlight the relevance of the Church’s teachings on the right to information in addressing the challenges posed by fake news, and to explore ways in which these principles can be applied to promote a more informed and responsible online community [23].

2.2 Right to Information

Everyone has the right to information as recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when it says that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold and expression and opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.  One component of the right to communicate is the right to information [24]. This right to information entails that everyone has a legitimate claim to certain information but only to certain information that is relevant and essential to individual well-being and the common good of the society.  On the other hand, the Magisterium notably mentions the right to information. Generally, the magisterial treatment of the right to information considers the communication of true information.  The right to information also is situated within the communitarian democratic participatory normative theory. Aligned with this right is the duty of the individual to seek and demand correct information. However, this right to information is not limitless.  The right to privacy, secrecy, good reputation, public good, justice and charity should also be considered. Moreover, the right to information must be freely exercised by the people.

2.3 Supremacy of Truth in the Context of Social Communications

Humanity should be aware that he is in constant search for the truth because there is no single person who has the whole knowledge of it.  He relies greatly on his fellow brothers and sisters who are responsible for the dispensation of information.  It is therefore his right to receive what is true and proper information.  This right to due information is grounded basically on the truth that St. Thomas Aquinas argues when he says that:

Since man is by nature a social being, there is a natural indebtedness of one person to another in regard to those things without which life together in society could not be maintained.  People could not live with one another where there is not a mutual trust that they were being truthful to one another.  The virtue of truth therefore, in some sense is concerned with a form of indebtedness.

Truth therefore is a virtue which is an indispensable element in every community for it maintains the trust which is very vital in every relationship.  In every information, it is the moral obligation of the giver to be always truthful, fair and just because to provide false information with the purpose of deceiving the receiver is a “deliberate assault on human beings” “individually, and it has repercussions on society as a whole.”  When there is authentic dialogue, “everyone is an equal partner, giving and receiving, and no one tries to impose his or her viewpoints on others, since no one has monopoly of the truth that would allow him or her to dictate to others what they have to think or believe.”  The right to know the truth is essentially connected with sharing the truth and is therefore an absolutely necessary element of communication [25].

2.4 Preservation of the Human Right to Information

According to Aetatis Novae many problems arise today that come directly from manipulation and unjust control of media policies and systems.  For example, “the unjust exclusion of some groups and classes from acess to the means of communication, the systematic abridgment of the fundamental right to information which is practiced in some places,  the widespread domination of  media by economic, social and political elites [26]. These things are contrary to the principal purposes, and indeed to the very nature, of the media, whose proper and essential social role consists in contributing to the realization of the human right to information, promoting justice in the pursuit of the common good, and assisting individuals, groups and peoples in their search for truth.” Based on this reality, the Church is expected to preserve the right to information by promoting fairness in the pursuit of the common good.  Since the truth which the media presented can be maligned for malicious purposes, the Church has her moral obligation to teach the virtue of truth in all circumstances at all times. She shares with respect to the right to information for she preaches that the right to information must be understood in the light of truth, justice and love.  Just as dialogue is a fundamental element in the church, so the realization and protection of the right to information are necessary because it forms an expression of an honest and respectful sharing of opinions and information.  The Church is insisting this right because it is based upon the realization that the Word of God communicates himself [27].

2.5 The Freedom of Communication in the Context of Social Communication

Freedom and communication are inseparable for they both contain the basic elements of a dignified human life – right and freedom. Since man is a social being by nature, he recognizes the need for free expression and a contrast with the thoughts of others.  Now more than ever, the intelligence and creativity of the human persons are often fulfilled more through collaboration than through individual efforts [28] The result is that individuals do not simply use their right as they obey their natural inclination to exchange ideas and express their views but also fulfil their social obligation. For Pope John Paul II, freedom is an essential element of peace and media is designed to give what is truth. Their fidelity to the truth is actually an exercise of their freedom that to do otherwise is an obstruction of it.  It is necessary therefore for the media to be free in order for them to serve freedom for the benefits of the society who have the right to receive true and proper information due to them.  This lifts up the media to a mere commercial and economic oriented zone but rather a new dimension intended for the interest of the society. The mass communications media are now here to serve as partners of the human person with a special role in ensuring responsible human freedom. The Church supports this freedom of expression and maintains that to seek and to know the truth is a fundamental human right and the foundation of democracy. It is therefore important that the freedom of communication and the right to be informed be laid down by legislation in keeping with these values and be defended against cultural, political and ideological excessive pressure that may undermine them.  The citizens’ right to criticize the actual work of the communications media should be guaranteed by legislation [29].

3. THE GENERAL PHENOMENON AND TENDENCIES OF FAKE NEWS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY PARTICULARLY IN THE PHILIPPINES

There is this tendency that people can be drawn to fake news than to the real news because fake news evokes intense emotions like fear, disgust, and surprise thus causing for the traditional journalism to diminish.  Hence, this section deductively develops the discussion on fake news as a global phenomenon in social media and how it affects the lives of individuals especially in the Philippine setting.  The dissemination of fake news through the mainstream media has been perceived as a global concern and a threat, not just only to business and politics but also to educational institutions.

3.1 Concept of Fake News

Fake news is political in origin specifically after the United States presidential elections in 2016 – a democratic exercise marked by lots of misinformation and false news.  It is an intentional disinformation invention or falsification of accepted reality, framed as real news for political and commercial purposes. It is a manipulative instrument of communication  because it contains “false connection, false context, manipulated content, misleading content [30].” The purveyor forged it to appear like real news and confuse or deceive readers, making them assume that such news is right and would appear as if from credible sources.  This can be in a form of either “wholly fake or contains deliberate misleading elements incorporated within its content or context.”  This abuse of communication has undermined and contributed greatly in discrediting journalism.  In a nutshell, fake news is a violation of truth for it bears false content and dishonest information that tolerates dishonesty denying people the truth that they deserve thus challenging and threatening the fundamental principle of communication [31].

3.2 Types of Fake News

Professor Clarissa David of the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines categorized fake news into two types:  misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation in this context entails the misleading information created or disseminated without manipulative or malicious intent.  For this type of fake news “no propaganda or political intention exists.” It is information that is false or simply incomplete but the person who is disseminating it believes that it is true thus creating a false connection and misleading content [32].  Under these categories are additional subtypes of misinformation like concealment, ambivalence, distortion and falsification. Moreover, an information can be classified as fake news also when it is vague, unclear or ambiguous is open to multiple interpretations. Disinformation is used to a deliberate and often orchestrated attempt of confusing or manipulating people through delivering dishonest information to them.  This is often combined with parallel and intersecting communications strategies and a suite of other tactics like hacking or compromising persons.  Unlike the first type (misinformation), disinformation is intentional.  It has a false context, manipulated, fabricated and deceptive content. There are many reasons why people spread disinformation.  It could be a personal agenda targeting an individual’s reputation or to influence public opinion on a person, a policy and event or another news story. A possible reason could also be political because partisans want to ensure to win in national elections for example by influencing the voters by means of satirizing powerful people, celebrities and current affairs.  Simply others confuse the public to divert the attention of the people from the truth.  Some would engage in this kind of fake news for some social or personal motivations and antagonistic reasons such as manipulating a competitor’s stock price, controlling a populace or ruining someone’s reputation [33].

3.2 Venues of Operationalizing Fake News 

There are several ways how fake news are operationalized: These include news in the form of satire, parody, fabrication, photo manipulation, propaganda, and advertising. News satire is a mockery of news programs which is made for humour’s sake and exaggeration of news updates.  This is done usually on television shows that focus on the current events. The purpose of this is to entertain than to inform.  The hosts are either comedians or entertainers and not journalists and newscasters.  The aim is to create humor which maintains the interest of the audience and the usual objects of discussion are political, economic or social. News parody refers to any news article that mimics the format of mainstream media.  It uses non-factual information.  It revolves around the foolishness of issues and emphasizes them by making up completely fictitious content.  Parody news are fabricated. The ridiculing of either legit news sources or a person in power is an aspect of it.  Parody news are made to appeal to the reader’s gullibility, fooling them to share the news with others without fully knowing the concept itself. News Fabrication stands without factual basis but it is published in a style of news articles to appear lecit [34].  The intention of the author is to misinform.  Fabricated news is usually published in Websites, Blogs or on social media platforms.  Thus, fabricated news is considered a success as it draws on pre-existing memes or partialities.  The problem of news fabrication comes in two relatively new dimensions.  One involves the author’s financial motive and the other mainly involves his intention to create an illusion to the public that the said news item has been widely accepted.  On account of the former, creators of fabricated news gain money and they do this by attracting people to clicks certain ads.  The latter concerns the development of news bots. Not only do the content and format make fabricated news appear like real news but also the impression on people that they are widely  Photo Manipulation refers to an act of altering real photographs or videos in order to establish a false narrative.  With the emergence of digital photos, powerful image manipulation softwares has become an ever more popular phenomenon.  The modified photos make it hard to verify the authenticity of the original photos and the social media is prone for posting manipulated images.  Sometimes, the photo may be accurate but a concocted story was misappropriated to justify it.  Basically photo manipulation deceived many people especially that people nowadays are more on photo than in reading a text.  Manipulator used this strategy in faking the real photo to be presented in the public.  In order to avoid this photojournalism should give truthful and objective reports.  Even if photographers and journalists follow the same ethical standards, photography strives to be credible.  Digitally removing or adding content to any photograph is a form of content alteration, which is considered wrong the moment it deceives people.  Photojournalists are expected to use photographs only in appropriate context.  They are to avoid captions and placements that misrepresent the original context of a photograph.  Photographers may pose certain subjects for portraits and illustrations, but they are to remember that it is unethical to orchestrate the action at any news assignment.  For photo illustration, Photographers should clearly identify the contrived image that is created to illustrate a subject or theme.  It is a must to strictly apply the rules and reconsider the news value.  “Photo-ops” usually appear to cover staged events held only for the benefit of the media. As much as possible these photo-ops should be avoided.  Consent from individuals or private property owners must be obtained, especially if they are to be used as photos for promotional or advertising purposes. Fake news identifies promotional materials in the form of real news stories to be released in the press.  A strong distinction about advertising or false news linked to ads vis-a vis on financial gain.  In certain cases, news can meet news goals through a marketing model known as native advertising.  This type of native advertising is generally built on evidence, though incomplete and is often concentrated on the positive attributes of the advertised product or individual [35].

3.3 Agenda and Motivations of Fake News

According to Dr. David Levy, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and his company, fake news has three distinct categories.  Firstly, it is written or invented to gain profits or to discredit others.  Secondly, although it has a foundation but still, is twisted according to a specific agenda. Thirdly, fake news does not make people feel confident nor does it ask for their consent. Some fake news existed in order to gain money.  Fake stories can make the headlines even though they are not true but they draw attention [36].  Each click of an ad on their site made money for the websites creator.  Ads like this help fund much of the internet.  Publishers that run the ads get money per click.  If the story take off they can makes a lot of cash the intention of the one who posted the fake news is get income out of it.  They have no intention of causing harm to anybody but it is purely a business.  Both professionals and non-professionals create fake news.  Non-professionals do it for the sake of fun-fares while professionals produce a lot of it to maximize the number of visitors in their websites despite the wrongful information they circulate. One can assume that the reason behind this act is to earn money.  According to Hunt Allcott and Gentzkow income is one motivation for providing fake news.  News articles and posts that went viral on social media are drawing significant advertising revenue when users click on the original website.  Through advertising clicks, online advertising attracts income for website operators.  While users create fake news articles to make money out of it, they share the articles through social networks mostly seeking to maintain or expand their socialization or associations with other individuals, for sharing of articles is part of their job [37].

3.4 Criteria and Qualifications in Determining News as Fake

There are three basic elements that would determine and qualify news as fake – low degree of facticity, possesses journalistic format and is intended to deceive people. The first element implies that it bears untrue messages, a false connection and a content that is misleading, fabricated and falsely contextualized [38]. It also means that the captions or visual used does not support the contents. False context implies that the content which is being re-circulated is out of context. The second element suggests that fake news possesses a journalistic format when it imitates news media content in form and is presented in a journalistic format. It does not only entail false news but also an imitation of the same structural components of news such as headline, text body and picture. “Through the use of new bots, fake news imitates news omnipresence by building a network of fake sites” and most likely, readers might see it as genuine and credible news.  However, fake news lack news media editorial norms and processes that ensures and guarantees accuracy and credibility of information. The third element of fake news lies in the intention of the creator which is to mislead or deceive others.  This can be arguably seen as the defining feature of fake news. Since visuals are especially effective instruments for the distribution of misleading facts, spreaders of fake news use information to frame issues or even individuals by cropping images or choosing quotation statistics selectively. Paid advertisement which imitates editorial content often falls under this category if it is not adequately classified as sponsored. The most blatant fake news are reports, stories and articles that are intentionally designed to mislead the public. They feature incidents that have not happened, which are mostly posted on blogs that appear like websites that provide traditional news. Experts believe that the creation of fake news has a hidden agenda and usually the main motivations for deception are political/ ideological or financial although it is also possible that fake news is made for humorous reasons in order to entertain.  For example, News satires and parodies use a sort of commonly known irony suspension to work and the ultimate goal is to entertain viewers through some degree of truth.  These sorts of false news are intended to give humor. Basically scholars strongly argue that fake news is created intentionally to deceive the people but there are other types just to give entertainment [39].

3.5 Fake News in the Philippines

Fake news sites have become widespread among Filipinos, especially being shared on social media platforms.  It spreads rapidly on newsfeed and impulse people to read and share it even without any verification.  Consequently, it might create a cycle of spreading fake news, which eventually makes it viral in social media that makes Filipino vulnerable to the dangers of false information.  The enticement of fake news is always potent, especially when the user has already a bias. The Philippines is affected by the phenomenon of fake news where media outlets are publishing fake information.  In the Philippines, where there are nearly 67 million users of social networking platforms, there has been a production of troll accounts, propaganda pages, and political posts that are successfully weaponizing the internet. Fake news has become a problem in the country as it spreads mainly in social media where majority of the population have accounts [40]. The Philippines Star published that in October 2018 Pulse Asia survey, 88 percent of the social media users claimed that fake news exists in the different social networking sites used by the Filipinos. Such suspected fake news may be visual images, audio, video, uploaded, or exchanged through various social media pages.  The usual topics that were mainly featured were the existing political climate, the exposure of graft and corruption of the different sectors in government procurement and projects, and current political and social issues in society. Rappler journalists and data scientists have tracked hundreds of websites and millions of social media accounts and groups that spread disinformation in the Philippines methodically and consistently “culminating in a database of more than 11 million personal profiles and 250 million public comments.” Social media is utilized by political parties to influence the public by utilizing fake accounts to inflate the number of followers, likes, shares, or retweets a candidate gets, generating a misleading sense of popularity.  At times, when political parties or candidates utilize social media manipulation as part of their campaign strategy and these strategies are continued when they take power [41].

4. CONCLUSION

The right to information, as taught by the Church, is an alienable right of all people, regardless of their status in society. It is a basic part of human dignity that should safeguard everyone’s well-being and the common good of society. The Church emphasizes that the feeding of social information should always be within the bounds of justice and charity. Fake news has become an inescapable reality, and it has led to various societal, political, and moral problems. In the Philippines, fake news is a national concern, with the majority of the Filipino population being into social media. Several movements have been established by civil authorities, private individuals, and organizations, including the Church, to combat the proliferation of fake news. Their common goal is to resolve and stop the spread of fake news on different platforms, particularly in the world of social media. Anti-fake news groups aim to re-establish a generation of digital natives who will use online platforms to preserve the ethical and moral well-being of individuals and social communities at large. To contribute to the agenda of anti-fake news groups, the researcher proposes a paradigm that aims to stop the rise of fake news on social media, especially in the Philippines. The Catholic Church’s view on the right to information is a suitable source of standard to provide ethical and moral education against the problem of fake news. The Church is morally obligated to shape the conscience of the people in line with the proper utilization of social media and the right values towards the information shared in and through them. The TRUTH paradigm is proposed, which involves all recipients of news being given criteria to check certain points to attain valid and unswerving information. These criteria include: News should always illuminate and correspond to reality, presenting the exact happenings. Reliable news contains information that can hold water, providing well-reasoned theories and arguments. News should not be skewed in favour of a particular group or ideology, being one-sided, sensationalized, and playing fair. Every part of the news is equally important and must be fully detailed. News should always state the truth, accurately reflecting the situation, being transparent about the source of stories and information, and being as factual as possible without any attempt to tailor the narrative and create fraudulent content. Adhering to the truth and nothing but the truth is an antidote to all things fake and deceptive. Therefore, the proposed TRUTH paradigm in this study, offered as a pastoral model for ethical and moral education on social media can edify people’s conviction about the power of their right to information in line with their role as active participants in the salvific plan of God Who Himself has communicated to Truth to all men, lifted up their dignity and yearned for the upkeep of the common good. The researcher recommends further studies on the Church’s teachings on the right to information and the prevalence of fake news on social media. They suggest including other mass media platforms and discussing human dignity, truth, social justice, charity, and common good as potential countermeasures. The researcher also suggests exploring other ethical and moral paradigms for combating fake news. They also suggest analysing the factors contributing to increased cases of fake news and the effectiveness of the Church in combating this phenomenon.

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