Skepticism and critical reading are essential weapons to combat the spread of disinformation, a forum on historical revisionism, fake news and data misinterpretation highlighted, Thursday.

 

According to news agency Vera Files co-founder Yvonne Chua, with the usual scrolling that millennials spend on social media, little attention has been given to the detail and truthfulness of the information they like, share and tweet about.

 

“Last year, what they picked as the word of the year was post-truth, meaning we don’t believe in facts anymore; rather, on emotions to dictate what we believe is true and allow it to fester,” she said.

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Chua pointed out that netizens must possess skepticism as a core trait because it is crucial in fighting fake news and attacking the root causes of the spread of disinformation.

 

She also talked about how social media presents information, banking on how content is tailor-fit to each netizen’s consumption.

 

Meanwhile, College of Education Professor Sharehann Lycman’s discussion on historical revisionism established the similarity of filtering of news and history writing’s nature of selectiveness. She further stressed the need for netizens to be critical readers.

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Lycman stated that omission happen in the process of writing the narrative. According to her, everyone bears the responsibility of history readers, hence the need to be critical.

 

Statistics Prof. Gian Louise Roy, on the other hand, expounded on the idea of critical reading by focusing on the appropriate creation and interpretation of data.

 

“Statistics is very suggestive in what it reveals, but we must also be wary of what it conceals,” he said.

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Roy elaborated on the power of statistics to bend reality and suit one’s agenda. “It is the perfect tool for forecasting future variables--how one relates to another--and it is also the perfect tool for misinformation, for deceit,” he said.

 

The forum, also known as Mu-lat 2018, is an educational discussion organized by the UP School of Statistics Student Council that aimed to tackle and resolve the plaguing effects of fake news while working hand-in-hand with different fields.

 

“Society is too deep in crisis today that we can’t wait for the future to act. We should do something now that can speak out and spark change,” said Allan Solacito, convener of Mu-lat 2018.