FNF and Rappler find Social Good in the Digital Age
MovePH, the civic engagement arm of Rappler, has partnered with FNF to run #FactsMatterPH workshops in four cities in the Philippines. This seeks to train newsgroups and key stakeholders to fight disinformation through a forum and hands-on activities.
#FactsMatterPH is part of FNF’s global campaign, Where’s The Freedom (WTF), that aims to take people to a journey around the globe in search for the real meaning of freedom. For this project, FNF envisions a society where citizens are empowered to participate in governance and are equipped to uphold human rights.
“Social Good in the Digital Age” engages the public in education against disinformation, to help them understand the critical role the media plays in democracies, and more importantly, to train them how to fact-check, flag, and report claims on their own. Informative videos on fact-checking and verification will also be developed to be used in sustaining the program for succeeding modules.
On August 30, University of San Carlos (USC) Cebu – Political Science Department served as audience to the first implementation. Rappler Chief Executive Officer Maria Ressa gave a presentation on the “Power of social media: Using technology for social good”. Cases were presented on different attacks to traditional media through the disinformation campaign in Facebook. Ressa also shared her personal experiences on cyber harassment after making strong statements for press freedom. “I’ve stood up for a lot of people. Journalist naman ako talaga (I am a journalist, that’s really who I am) so my values will not change. Rappler is now supported by people and communities that will make those values survive,” she said.
Stacy de Jesus, Head of MovePH and Digital Communication, discussed digital media etiquette where she made the audience familiar with different tools used to attack people in social media. “Before, the attacks were only towards notable people such as celebrities and politicians. But things are different now because many individuals are engaging online. The attacks now are not physically, but on the credibility, the mind, and the hearts,” said De Jesus.
The morning session was closed by a panel discussion participated by members of the academe and media. Apart from De Jesus, Isolde Amante of Sun Star Cebu, Nestor Ramirez of Cebuano Association for Communication Educators and Recca Georfo of USC were part of the panel.
The afternoon sessions were focused on training the students on how to fact check under the themes of: humanitarian/disaster scenario, storytelling and online content. MovePH’s Agos platform was used to learn how to report critical alerts during disasters. The importance of double checking sources before accepting information was stressed during the storytelling session. Lastly, online presence through social media was maximized, focusing on fact-checking to stop the spread of disinformation.
Read more on the event here: https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/210939-experts-cebuanos-anonymous-facebook-pages
Apart from this program, Rappler sustains its fact-check efforts with support from Facebook’s Third Party Fact Checker Program.
“Digital security and press freedom are among the priorities of liberal governments, and is likewise the same for FNF Philippines. The high presence of Filipinos in the internet is alarming because of information accessibility without verifying the sources. This has welcomed several cybercrime cases within the past few years. Our partnership with Rappler is significant to reach the public and educate them to use the internet responsibly and keeping their identities safe both offline and online.”, shares Wolfgang Heinze, FNF Country Director.
The #FactsMatterPH had also been run in Cagayan de Oro, and will also take place in Leyte and Cavite.
Read about it here: https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/211518-move-cdo-stop-disinformation-fact-checking
Social Good Summit #MoveCebu #MovePH