While purveyors of fake news are best left ignored to their devices in order not to gratify and further bolster their self-confidence and arrogance, there comes a time when their irresponsibility and sheer presence simply cannot be set aside.
Such is the case with Cebu Flash Report, which committed a major blunder when they claimed that a bomb was placed somewhere near a store in Lapu-Lapu City only to be proven wrong when the police found nothing but a cassette player.
When the Police Regional Office (PRO-7) threatened to actually press charges against the administrators of that Facebook page, the post on the Lapu-Lapu City bomb was taken down along with Cebu Flash Report.
It would only resurface a few days later with a new name called “Cebu Flash Report Version 2,” but it won’t be a surprise if the administrators remained the same. But it was too late for their masquerade as the local residents have been wise to their deception and dangerously amateurish “reportorial” skills.
The administrators also tried to be sarcastic towards their critics by posting about last Thursday’s earthquake and then wondering aloud whether they should verify it or not, similar to what their critics said they should have done with their Lapu-Lapu City bomb scare.
We are reminded of that “tsunami scare” caused by a broadcaster a few hours after the tremors caused by the Negros Oriental quake of February 2012 alarmed Cebu City residents.
The broadcaster claimed he was looking for “Chona Mae” after hearing about rumors of a tsunami that was supposed to hit Cebu City. His constant screaming of her name alarmed nearby residents and caused them to run wildly in panic, alarming other people as well.
Fast-forward five years later and this time, Metro Cebu netizens were alarmed with the Cebu Flash Report Facebook post about a bomb in Lapu-Lapu City at a time when tensions are high due to fears of expanding violence caused by the military engagement with the terrorist Maute group in Marawi City.
What makes Cebu Flash Report and other fake news sites in social media and the internet so dangerous is that they are all too pervasive, yet hide behind the cloak of anonymity to afford them protection from prosecution, as they spread their lies without any form of accountability or responsibility whatsoever.
At a time when loyalist-fanatics of President Rodrigo Duterte try to discredit established traditional media institutions in print, broadcast and online as “presstitutes,” the proliferation of fake news sites and Facebook pages will continue unabated.
Only a vigilant public wise to their deceptive ways will find the courage to report them to the authorities, so they can be ferreted out and be made to account for their lies and deceit.
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