The spread of misinformation online, or what we Filipinos call "fake news," has spread rampantly with the rise of use in social media. According to (Statista, 2023), the Philippines is known as the social media capital of the world, with an average usage time of three hours per day. This makes Filipinos vulnerable targets of misinformation, even when it comes to their own history. The purposeful distortion of Philippine history for one’s propaganda and bias can harm our society because historical information helps people understand why certain issues occur in our country. Therefore, we must encourage individuals to fact-check the information they see online and use our knowledge of history to educate others. The use of misinformation about Philippine history has been mainly used for political propaganda. In fact, it was most rampant during the 2022 presidential elections. An example of this case was the myth that was spread around social media that the Marcoses invested tons of gold in Switzerland that would be used to eradicate poverty in the country. Many of Marcos’ supporters believed and spread this claim despite the lack of factual evidence (Jostol, 2022). Moreover, biased historical narratives from the previous Marcos regime claimed that it was the “golden era” of the country, where prices were low and the economy was booming. This narrative was mainly spread by troll farms, vloggers, and Marcos supporters to improve the reputation of the Marcoses. However, this historical fabrication hides the reality of the horrendous treatment that martial law victims endured under Marcos' rule, as well as the numerous human rights abuses that took place (Ludovice, 2022). I believe that many Filipinos fall victim to these kinds of misinformation because of their own biases and lack of media literacy. Most of these cases would not occur if users were to be more critical of the information presented to them and fact-check the sources. If it is not due to their ignorance or a lack of education, then it is due to their personal bias. People will more likely believe information that supports their bias or narrative, and I believe that is the case for most of the supporters of Marcos. For us to combat the spread of misinformation, we can use our knowledge of history to educate others and call out any misinformation we see online. We must also influence our close friends and family to be critical of the information they see online, especially the elderly, who are most susceptible to this. It is important for us to be more proactive regarding this in order to prevent further misinformation about history. Historical distortion harms society, especially the poor, who are taken advantage of for political propaganda. To ensure that past politicians and leaders are unable to abuse their position of authority and influence in the future, it is imperative that the people are aware of the truth about their history. References Jostol, M. (2022, October 28). Advocates urge organized fight vs disinformation, historical distortion. Rappler. Retrieved December 5, 2023, from https://www.rappler.com/moveph/advocates-emphasize-need-organized-fight-v s-disinformation-historical-distortion/ Ludovice, N. (2022, October 13). Controlling the Narrative: Historical Distortion and the Case of the Philippines |. AsiaGlobal Online Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2023, from https://www.asiaglobalonline.hku.hk/controlling-narrative-historical-distortionand-case-philippines Statista. (2023, November 22). Social media users in the Philippines 2029. Statista. Retrieved December 5, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/489180/number-of-social-network-users-inphilippines/
