Literacy, the antidote to noise and fakes

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November 5, 2026 | 12:00am

Last week, the world marked UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week. The timing could not be better – in this age of endless content and instant sharing, knowing how to think critically may be one of the most important life skills we have.

A recent Pulse Asia survey reported that 72 percent of Filipino adults consider the spread of false information and disinformation a major problem in the country. And what’s more, Facebook remains the leading online news source for 91 percent of respondents. That means millions of us get our information from a place where facts, opinions, half-truths and outright lies sit side by side, often looking exactly alike.

The cost is real – according to the State of Scams Philippines 2026 report, Filipinos lost an estimated P121.8 billion to scams in the past year. About 11.7 million adults reportedly fell victim, losing an average of P10,427 each. That is a lot of grocery money, tuition and savings. Scams like this work because a lie travels faster than the truth can catch up and because fakes are getting harder to spot.

Lawmakers know they have to act now. In fact, there are proposals in the 20th Congress that seek to impose penalties, establish regulatory mechanisms and introduce takedown procedures for online disinformation. Government agencies have also launched initiatives such as Oplan Kontra Fake News and various reporting platforms to identify and address misleading content.

A point of contention though – press freedom advocates warn that vague definitions and broad enforcement powers could silence honest speech and real journalism. The challenge then is how to protect people from deception without damaging the open discussion that a democracy like ours depends on?

I believe the most sustainable solution has always been media and information literacy.

Over four decades in the communications profession, I have witnessed the evolution from print to broadcast, from websites to social media and now to artificial intelligence. But in all that time, I have never seen misinformation and disinformation this widespread, this convincing and this hard to fight.

This is quite personal. As the spokesperson of the country’s largest electric distribution utility, I have been the subject of fake content more than once. Deepfake ads used my face and name to sell supposed electricity-saving devices. They were scams, built to trick unsuspecting consumers into wasting their money.

In another case, manipulated quote cards circulated online showing me attacking renewable energy advocates and opposing solar installations. I said no such thing. But the cards looked like any other social media post, they were shared widely and many people believed them. The lesson here: seeing is no longer believing.

Meralco, the company I represent, is also a frequent target of misinformation and in some ways an easy one. Bills arrive every month, and people look closely when costs rise. Some who share false claims are frustrated or just following the crowd. Others know exactly what they are doing: distorting facts and stirring anger to push an agenda. They want division, not discussion.

That is why we believe media and information literacy deserves far more attention and why “Mapanuring Meralco” was launched, in partnership with MediaQuest Holdings Inc.’s advocacy program, THINKaMuna Pilipinas. The initiative aims to help employees and stakeholders become more discerning consumers and sharers of information.

“Mapanuring Meralco” included an exhibit documenting the evolution of communication channels, as series of fun activities and culminated with an educational forum promoting responsible information consumption. More importantly, the program encourages every participant to pause, verify and think critically before reacting or sharing.

The forum also took up a challenge that many of us are only beginning to understand – artificial intelligence. As Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho pointed out, “Information can now travel across millions of screens in seconds through various channels. The importance of everyone’s ability to distinguish facts from false narratives has drastically grown. Technology, algorithms, and artificial intelligence have already transformed the way people receive or gather information and form opinions.”

That observation should resonate with all of us. Media and information literacy is no longer just about identifying fake news posts circulating on social media. Now, it is also about understanding how algorithms work, how online sentiment can be manipulated, how artificial intelligence gathers information and how our own biases influence what we choose to believe.

We must learn not only to question the content that appears on our screens but also the systems producing and prioritizing that content. Understanding how information is sourced, ranked, amplified and recommended will become a critical skill for those navigating the digital age.

I particularly liked an analogy shared during the event by my good friend, veteran communications practitioner Mon Isberto. Media and information literacy, he said, is like being taught to walk facing oncoming traffic. Doing so allows you to see potential dangers and protect yourself before harm occurs.

That is exactly what discernment does in today’s information environment. It allows us to recognize manipulation before it influences our decisions. It enables us to distinguish fact from fiction before misinformation spreads further. Most importantly, it preserves our ability to think independently in a world increasingly shaped by AI and virality.

The noise is not going away. Our news feeds will stay crowded, the fakes will only keep getting better with technology. But truth has never needed to be the loudest voice in the room. It only needs people willing to stop, THINKaMuna, find the truth among the lies and amplify it.