Robredo to launch movement vs disinformation, fake news

Vice President Leni Robredo gives a post-election statement from her home in Magarao, Camarines Norte in the early hours of Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (File photo from VP Leni Media Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Even when she finally becomes a private citizen come June 30, outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo isn’t planning on taking it easy as her team already has plans to push back against disinformation and fake news on social media, her spokesperson said on Sunday.

In their weekly radio show, “BISEserbisyong LENI,” on Radio Mindanao Network, lawyer Barry Gutierrez said they would be launching “a broad movement as well as initiatives to address and fight disinformation and fake news on social media.”

This would run parallel to her upcoming Angat Buhay Foundation, which is set to start on July 1 and would carry some of her flagship projects.

“It’s clear that this kind of strategy is destroying democracy and destroying our capacity for proper public discourse,” Gutierrez said. “It’s really too much — it’s as if lies and fake news are winning and we can’t let that happen.”

Among others, he confirmed they were also eyeing legal options against fake news peddlers and possibly even against the platforms that host disinformation.

“If we just let this be, it will just go on — the lies, the deception, the character assassination, discourse that is hinged on wrong things,” he warned. “This is not only for VP Leni, or everybody who has ever been victimized by this on social media, but ultimately it is for the benefit and good of our country.”

Several analysts agree that the massive disinformation campaign against Robredo played a huge role in her loss in the 2022 presidential elections.

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