Philippines: Engaging young people in the fight against disinformation

"Small actions can actually have a big impact," Nur-Saleha Dadayan said recently with confidence. The communications and media instructor at Mindanao State University in Marawi City in the Philippines was reflecting on her field of study during a DW Akademie training.  "I will actively combat disinformation by seeking the truth," she proclaimed. "Every time I see something that is not true, I'll gather information and then go online and tell people: 'No, this is not true.' That's what I will do." 

Dadayan is one of 15 youth leaders from Mindanao who in the workshop explored not only how to effectively detect and correct disinformation. She and the others also learned how to teach these skills to peers and in nearby communities. 

"My community thinks disinformation doesn't affect them," said Dadayan. "But this training has given us an idea how to turn that around and make our communities more active and conscious of their choices when dealing with media, instead of being passive victims to disinformation." 

Information versus lies 

The workshop is part of the new project "Together against Disinformation: Reliable Facts and New Ideas." Funded by Germany's Federal Foreign Office (AA), the idea is that media and information literacy (MIL) contributes to resilience against disinformation. The training program addresses youth leaders from Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines, as well as young people from Indonesia and Malaysia. The focus is on fighting disinformation and the workshops also include tips on staying safe online.  

"This project aims to strengthen trust in quality media in these countries," said Deborah Urban, who manages the project for DW Akademie. She noted, too, that it is critical to work closely with experienced partners in each country, as well as Deutsche Welle reporters and staff. "They know the situation on the ground and have good ties to local youth organizations." 

In the Philippines, DW Akademie cooperated with the Filipino news site Rappler and its fact-checking initiative #FactsFirstPH to organize the four-day in-person trainings. 

In an interview with DW Akademie, Rappler CEO and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa explained that international cooperation is important to counter disinformation globally. 

"All news organizations are on the same side," she said. "The battle now is between fact-based, standards- and ethics-based information versus lies and emotional manipulation." 

Social media, by design, works against journalism, she added, pointing to studies showing that lies spread six times faster on social media than does factual reporting. 

"If you lace [disinformation] with fear, anger, and hate, it will spread even faster," Ressa said. 

Rappler CEO and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa has encouraged international cooperation to counter disinformation globally.

This toxic combination is precisely what the project "Together against Disinformation" aims to alert participants to. In addition, it encourages discussion between young media users and professional journalists.  

Passing on knowledge 

"In this project, civil society, academics, and media professionals come together to identify the key consequences of disinformation at the local level," said Urban. "This enables the media professionals to better understand the information needs and media habits of the younger generation. At the same time, the young adults see how professional journalists work and how fact-based, ethical journalism differs from the information disorder they're confronted with on social media." 

Following the dialogue sessions and training workshops, participants work as MIL trainers and pass on their new knowledge and skills to young people in their organizations and communities. They also create social media MIL campaigns for their target groups. 

Clockwise from upper left: Farhana Makol, Abdul Hafiz Malawani, Jene-Anne Pangue, Ghandamra Mae Burungawan, Lovely Gil Malupa, during a training session in Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines.

Another workshop participant, Justin John Nagac, who works with the MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center, discussed his personal experience with online disinformation. 

"I have seen how disinformation-fueled scams target our members, our staff, our offices," he said. "This is alarming because our members come from marginalized sectors. All they have is the money and resources to make ends meet."  

The training, he said, can help members of his community more easily recognize disinformation, especially on social media. 

The workshop benefits are especially important for Filipino youth. Their country today has the largest population of young people in its history, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the entire population and they spend a comparatively large amount of time online. 

"By training the trainers, by focusing on the youth, I hope that we'll be able to restore a sense of community and trust," said Maria Ressa, "and a sense that we collectively can make our world better. They're going to have to fix the world we broke." 

Rappler is DW Akademie's partner in the Philippines for this series of interactive MIL workshops to train young people in Southeast Asia. The project, "Together against disinformation: Reliable facts and new ideas," is funded by Germany's Federal Foreign Office (AA).