Sifting through the lies

Truth be told

Don’t be misled.

In a time where lies and deceit abound, Filipinos are called to shun all kinds of falsehoods and choose the way of the truth.

“We know that different kinds of information have been disseminated. We need to discern because not all we read or hear are true,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma who has repeatedly cautioned people about the ill-effects of fake news.

False information, the prelate said, has been so widespread that it has ruined people’s reputations and lives.

Palma, the chief shepherd of the country’s biggest archdiocese, expressed hopes that different sectors of the community will come together to combat fake news.

“There’s just so much at stake here. We need to find ways to fight fake news,” he said.

Antidote

If there is a way to get rid of lies and deceit, education is key, said Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Villarojo.

“You just cannot fight fake news by simply running after every fake news because it is like a virus. Once it’s on the web, it spreads and it’s very difficult to stop,” he said.

If people, however, are taught how to detect lies and every kind of false information, Villarojo said fake news will disappear by itself.

“The thing about fake news is it defeats itself. Because once people will realize that they have been fed with fake news, they become distrustful. They will not trust the source anymore. And once the source is revealed as not worthy of trust, it is dead, “ he explained.

“So it is like a virus, once you are inoculated with something, it does not affect you anymore,” Villarojo added.

Villarojo said that at present, fake news has become an instrument to deceive and manipulate people.

“Fake news is basically made to destroy reputations, institutions, and the like so that the one in power or the one who is able to manipulate the news will be able to get his way,” the bishop said.

“Basically, it’s a kind of power grab. But it is very temporary because if you manipulate people according to fake news, eventually they will learn the truth, and once they realize that they have been duped, you get a backlash. It’s actually a very temporary hold of power,” he added.

Fake news spreads faster

In a study released last March 8, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said that false news spreads more rapidly on the social network Twitter than real news.

“We found that falsehood diffuses significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information, and in many cases by an order of magnitude,” says Sinan Aral, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-author of a new paper detailing the findings, in a report posted on its website.

The MIT said false news stories are 70 percent more likely to be retweeted by people than true stories.

The devil’s work

Fake news and anything that obscures the truth, Villarojo said, is the work of the devil who is described in scripture as the “father of lies.”

“There is no truth in the devil. In him is malice in order to manipulate people and controvert whatever is true. That is the nature of the devil. We have to understand that so as not to fall into his trap,” he said.

Instead of clinging to falsehood, Villarojo called on people to uphold and promote the Truth who is God Himself. “Jesus presented Himself as the ‘Way, the Truth, and the Life.’ He is the truth because He is the fullness of being. And when we believe Him, we are accepting and accenting to the truth that he presents,” he said.

“Let us, therefore, return to the Lord — the Lord of truth who teaches us what is good and evil, and the Lord who gives us the Truth that will set us free,” he added.

First fake news

In his message for the 52nd World Communications Day which will be celebrated on May 13, Pope Francis, said the “crafty serpent,” as recounted in the Book of Genesis, created the first fake news by pretending to be the “woman’s friend,” and tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The woman, Eve, and her partner Adam gave in to the bait that led to their destruction.

In the story of the resurrection, Matthew narrates how the chief priests and elders bribed the tomb guards to spread word that the disciples came by night and stole the body of Jesus — a lie that has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Fake news, Pope Francis said, is a “tragedy of disinformation” that “discredits others, presenting them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them, and fomenting conflict.”

“Spreading fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence political decisions, and serve economic interests. Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth,” the Pope said.

So as not to be deceived by the devil, there is a need to educate people and help them discern, evaluate and understand their “deepest desires and inclinations”, he added.

“Informing others means forming others. It means being in touch with people’s lives. That is why ensuring the accuracy of sources and protecting communication are real means of promoting goodness, generating trust, and opening the way to communion and peace,” the Holy Father said.

“The most radical antidote to the virus of falsehood is purification by the truth. Truth involves our whole life. Truth is something you can lean on, so as not to fall. In this relational sense, the only truly reliable and trustworthy One – the One on whom we can count – is the living God,” he said.

Slander

In his new apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” or “Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call To Holiness in Today’s World,” released last April 9,

Pope Francis also took on “verbal violence” which is common on social media and bewailed the amount of defamation and slander spread online.

“Christians too can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forums of digital communication. Even in Catholic media, limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace, and all ethical standards and respect for the good name of others can be abandoned,” the Holy Father said.

Pope Francis is not a stranger to social media.

In 2016, he set a record by collecting one million followers on Instagram in just 12 hours, a record previously held by soccer superstar David Beckham.

He is also one of the most influential world leaders on Twitter, followed by over 40 million accounts.

The Holy Father must have seen some replies to his tweets that were also laden with profanities, and attacks on the Catholic Church, even from other Catholics.

Just last month, a 93-year-old journalist — an avowed atheist — who talked with Pope Francis, without taking down notes or recording the conversation, came out with a false report that the Holy Father denied the existence of hell.

Pope Francis cautioned people about sowing lies on social media, as it would destroy other people’s lives.

“It is striking that at times, in claiming to uphold the other commandments, they completely ignore the eighth, which forbids bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others. Here we see how the unguarded tongue, set on fire by hell, sets all things ablaze,” said Pope Francis, paraphrasing a passage from scriptures.

Incidentally, the Pope used the image of hell to condemn misleading news and information.  (To be continued)