Fake news has lorded it over our dining tables. The moment you open your mouth, to debunk another one of Duterte’s false claims, spells the ruin of a peaceful Sunday lunch—or so you think.

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What will you do if you discover that your favorite tito or lola in town is an avid follower, all along, of our resident blogger in Malacañang?

 

Waging war with trolls and fake news sites hiding behind creative pseudonyms and Voldemort avatars may take you an hour or two—or until you’ve given up all your hope in the comment section. But debating with people that you’ve been with your whole life, and convincing them to rethink their ideals and behavior may cost you your extra baon, at the minimum, or your title as mommy’s boy, at the maximum.

 

Having contributed to the “conversion” of some family members from being blind believers of “fake news” purveyed by Duterte and his minions to being responsible netizens critical to the information served in their plates—by sharing with them the lessons I’ve learned inside and outside the classroom—is not a laughing matter.

 

Tears, hardened hearts, and heated debates while driving home, or watching the evening news, or eating dinner, are very much a part of bringing the discourse about fighting “fake news” within the comforts of home.

 

A journalism professor from the University of the Philippines Diliman once startled our ethics class with a question: How will you educate the people around you about “fake news?” How can we make the ordinary Filipino understand that news, in essence, is verified and factual? With whom would you begin?

 

A similar question puzzled the audience—and even the speakers who are media

practitioners or experts themselves—in the Democracy and Disinformation Conference held last February 2018. The event which gathered journalists, bloggers and media scholars was organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and other media and academic institutions.

 

RockEd Philippines (a group organizing avenues for alternative education for the Filipino youth) founder Gang Badoy, one of the speakers, admitted that she has refused to open her Facebook account for the longest time. Avoiding the toxicity of social media, she started having real conversations about fake news with her family and friends instead. Badoy has realized that she needs to “engage those who will listen to her and whom she have known all her life.”

 

On the other hand, TV 5 journalist Ed Lingao, another speaker in the conference, had taken the war against trolls in the virtual battlefield. You cannot choose your battles, he said, but you can choose your platform.

 

Indeed, you need only choose your sphere to save people under the dark spell of the lies of this administration and of fake news sites.

The family—where real conversations arguably take place—however, is where the battle begins.

 

We have to persevere because there is no quick fix in fighting demagogues or leaders whose popularity and rise to power are founded on lies disguised as alternative facts, said keynote speaker Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

 

Opening the eyes of the people closest to our hearts to the deluge that is the web of disinformation in our country today is not done overnight.  It will take time—measured in heavy traffic lulls, television shows, kitchen dialogues, dinners, walks in the park, and bedtime conversations—to convince family members that they might, in fact, have fallen victims to “fake news,” and that the public official they adore might be behind it.        

Badoy and other speakers in the conference added that we have to talk to people in their language, setup, and pace.  

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Bombarding our family with unfamiliar terms and intimidating jargon is not the way to go. Just as journalists need to write their stories in a manner that even a grade-schooler can understand, the first step is to ensure that we at home are not lost in a mere war of words.

 

Listening to the individual stories of our family members is crucial in knowing when and how to approach them. There is a time to talk and a time to keep silent.

 

Sometimes, all you need is a corny joke, a good massage for your parents, or a hot cup

of coffee to spark an engaging conversation.

 

We shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the noises at home. In an argument, a child may never emerge a victor against his parents. If you are convinced, however, that you’re morally right, speak out nonetheless. Engage an argument not to win, Badoy added, but because something has to be said.

 

Finally, remember that it will take more than just a social media account, a keyboard, and a stable internet connection to go against the people you love. They are never a waste of time and semantics. In the name of a love that is patient and selfless, our family and relatives shall soon be warriors of the truth themselves in their own spheres.

 

The snares of “fake news” have gone beyond our Facebook and Twitter feeds. They have intruded our households. Ours is an unfinished battle against online trolls, “fake news” sites, and fascist presidents who snatch our beloved titas and kuyas, ninangs and lolos, in the dead of the night.

 

It pays to strike at the enemy in our own backyard. Only until then can we reach out to the bigger family that is the community and, finally, the nation.

 

As Pope Francis said in his message during the World Communications Day: “The best antidote to falsehoods are not strategies, but people: people who are not greedy but ready to listen, people who make the effort to engage in sincere dialogue so that the truth can emerge…”

 

Forget—for a while—your vow to unleash hell to that Den G. Vaxia troll you haven’t even met. Your family is waiting for you at home.

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Richard S.M. de Leon, 19, believes that the family that fights fake news together stays together. He is currently a third year journalism student at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and an alumnus of Saint James Academy Malabon. Reach him at rsdeleon1@upd.edu.ph.