The authorities will spearhead a nationwide digital media literacy drive this 12 months in a bid to show the weak sector “to be discerning of the truth” in social media, a Presidential Communications Office (PCO) official mentioned.
In a aspect occasion to the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York on Friday, PCO Undersecretary Cherbett Karen Maralit mentioned that Congress has tasked the PCO to deal with the rising concern on misinformation and disinformation, particularly within the digital panorama.
“Backed by the budgetary support from the Philippine Congress and its confidence in the leadership of the PCO, we took the opportunity to develop mechanisms through which we can bring the online experiences of females of all ages into focus,” she mentioned.
Pointing out that the rights of girls and women “continue to be undermined by disinformation and misinformation” at the moment, she mentioned that the PCO would uphold their rights and welfare by way of the digital media literacy marketing campaign that may give attention to probably the most weak communities.
“Taking a context-based and factual grassroots approach, we intend to reach out to and equip these communities with knowledge and skills and tools that will enable them to be discerning of the truth as they engage in various social media channels and platforms,” Maralit added.
She defined a two-fold path involving the collaboration by PCO with the non-public sector and stakeholders of the published business to ascertain efficient mechanisms in opposition to pretend news.
The PCO itself will even information the general public in having the ability to perceive and establish false, incomplete, or inaccurate info.
She mentioned the workplace goals to attain this with each sensitivity, steadiness, and respect for constitutional rights.
“We will work to improve the citizenry’s ability to think critically and analyze information. The first step towards this end is identifying reliable and credible sources of information,” Maralit mentioned.
She mentioned a research will probably be carried out this month within the Philippines to refine the goal communities the place media literacy is most wanted; decide the social media platforms by way of which these communities are most inclined to pretend news; and establish the contents and matters on which these misinformation and disinformation focus.
The research additionally targets to establish the profiles of faux news peddlers; perceive the influences that open these communities to deceptions; and perceive the practices and habits of the goal communities that create the alternatives for publicity to disinformation and misinformation.
The PCO will then conduct the media literacy marketing campaign as soon as the outcomes of the research are gathered expectedly by mid-year.
By the tip of the 12 months, Maralit mentioned the PCO will shut the marketing campaign with a media literacy summit, the place audio system from Facebook, Google, and the Philippine Commission on Women, amongst others, will probably be invited.
Maralit additionally mentioned a number of challenges in integrating Media and Information Literacy (MIL) within the fundamental schooling curriculum, similar to the misperception concerning the MIL course as an academic technology-related topic, the shortage of coaching for MIL academics, and the necessity to think about MIL as a core topic by tertiary schooling establishments.
She mentioned measures looking for to institutionalize the trouble of the Department of Education to incorporate MIL as a core topic within the present curriculum of fundamental and secondary schooling is being pushed in Congress. —Giselle Ombay/KG, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
