Sigla Research Center presents the 'PH Disinfo Hub'

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Disinformation is everywhere. From your social media feed to what you overhear during your daily commute, it takes an extra effort to not get duped or scammed these days. But what makes disinformation so powerful? Simply put, information is power. It has the ability to shape public opinion, incite outrage, and even influence elections.

The power of information – and its misuse – took center stage during the 2022 national elections. The surge of misleading content on social media influenced public opinion and strained personal relationships – perhaps this happened in your own family or friend group. The rifts the elections created still linger, and the tactics to spread disinformation are continuously utilized until today – fake celebrity endorsements, out-of-context sound bites, the use of deep fakes via AI – all make disinformation seem as if it reflects genuine public sentiment.

As the nation gears up for the 2025 midterm elections, the spread of fake news will proliferate once again. Filipinos need a way to weed out healthy public discourse from political influence operations, to arm themselves with the tools you need to be more critical and discerning over the content you take in. The first step is knowing how to spot disinformation; then you can put up a fight.

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A first in the country

As the Philippines’ first dedicated digital platform to tackle the complicated world of fake news, the PH Disinfo Hub is built to make it make sense – for the ordinary mamamayan to have the right tools they’ll need to make informed choices.

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Currently, several initiatives led by various media titles and independent organizations have been done in order to combat the issue of disinformation. Initiatives providing practical tips on how to spot fake news and how it’s disseminated have been prominent in the digital literacy space, while investigative reports provided guiding frameworks for these initiatives. More recently, creative interventions such as podcasts and online comics have been explored by actors, proving the capacity of artistic expressions to create spaces for political dialogues.

Sigla Research Center further advances these efforts through its collaboration with investigative journalists, community leaders, and a team of experts. The result is the PH Disinfo Hub, an integrated platform that consolidates years of research on disinformation.

The PH Disinfo Hub digs deep into the root cause of disinformation and divulges that the proliferation of fake news is backed by an organized group of individuals. It’s an entire ecosystem, a black market of sorts wherein people are paid to achieve the objectives of its chief architects and to steer public opinion to their favor. Disinformation operators take advantage of legitimate concerns of the public. And while debunking fake news has been proven to facilitate clarity amidst fictitious or misleading information, seeing the bigger picture is the key to fighting disinformation and winning.

Additionally, the PH Disinfo Hub seeks to support the empowerment of Filipinos. It provides a space where publics from various communities can meet in the middle, as they gain a broader perspective of the problem. The Hub’s aim is not about changing someone’s mind on the spot; it’s about opening the door for dialogue despite the influence of misinformation’s chief architects.

Why bother?

Regardless of your privilege, we are all vulnerable to the deceitful, organized industry of disinformation. As these work with manipulation of public sentiment at the core, it has the potential to affect relationships, reputations, and even personal matters. With the PH Disinfo Hub, fake news is finally put to the spotlight, learning more information on its hows, whos, and whys. Fake news affects all of us. Whether or not you believe disinformation, its reach transcends the virtual realm and affects real-life interactions. It has the ability to create strained relationships, ruin reputations, even rid you of resources, such as falling for financial or emotional scams.

What’s next?

Papunta palang tayo sa exciting part. Sigla is rolling out more initiatives, like the Community Engagement Fund, which aims to support grassroots projects that build toward a healthier information ecosystem and public sphere. Communities empowered with such tools and knowledge will help in the fight against disinformation while it’s still at a smaller scale, and easier to address.

With the 2025 midterm elections around the corner, Sigla’s national elections research project will also monitor the flow of information during the campaign period, giving Filipinos the resources they need to make their vote count.

Copy of The Team (Instagram Post) 5 — Juan Felix, Head of Partnerships and
Engagements of Sigla Research Center

“This research project seeks to shift academic attention from the national level of electoral disinformation to the local level,” Juan Felix, Head of Partnerships and Engagements of Sigla Research Center shared. With their research on digital disinformation spanning several elections since 2016, the study aims to “outline national trends and characteristics of electoral disinformation and influence operations, while also uncovering hyperlocal forms of political influence work online and offline in and across the 2025 Philippine national, local, and BARMM elections,” Juan added.

Through partnerships with organizations and fact-checkers, Sigla Research Center hopes this initiative will keep the 2025 elections clean and voters safe, well-informed, and ready to fight fake news.

Sigla Research Center isn’t just a platform for understanding disinformation – it’s part of a movement advocating for truth and transparency. Now, more than ever, is the time to be proactive in taking a stand against fake news, and engage in conversations based on facts.

With the wealth of resources at your fingertips and knowledge available for free, now is the time to take the front seat in combating disinformation. Are you ready to #UnmaskDisinfoNow? Together, we can build a society where we make smarter choices, engage in constructive dialogues, and we get the government we rightly deserve.

Makilahok at manatiling bukas sa bagong kaalaman kasama ang #PHDisinfoHub!