“Firstly, the internet made it practical from a time point of view,” she explains. “And, secondly, the increasing sophistication of political messaging made it necessary.”  

 

With the advancement of technology and the global rise of social media, it has become so easy to spread information—whether it is factual or not. Along with political propaganda, scams and fabricated content can reach the other side of the world in an instant. This has made information disorder worsen at a drastic rate. The task of fact-checking is now being applied to any kind of content on the internet that could bring potential harm or for anything that leaves room for any kind of skepticism. 

 

On the flip side, these tools can also be used by any person to do the fact-checking process for themselves. Which leaves us to the question: what will the future of fact-checking look like? 

 

Influence of Social Media on Filipinos 

 

We have become irrevocably dependent on social media, even more so now that we’re in a pandemic. Studies show that the Philippines is the country that spends the longest amount of time online in the world, with an average of approximately 11 hours per day. Almost every transaction and activity is done online. We share our interests and communicate with others online. Research has also shown an increase in the usage of social media sites such as Facebook (73%), YouTube (53%), Facebook Messenger (36%), Twitter (19%), and TikTok (6%) as sources of news and information. 

 

Despite the large consumption of news in social media, only 20% of the respondents reported that they trust what they read from these sources. There are complaints of misinformation on the content posted on these sites, particularly those about COVID-19 updates from the government, politicians, political parties, and ordinary people. 

 

This proves the importance of proper fact-checking mechanisms not only for the news reported by official media outlets but also for the information posted by public officials and private individuals online. Every person who has a social media account can create any content they wish to put online, but not everyone has good intentions. Some may put out content to be in genuine help of other people, some may do so to further mislead others or to create conflict. Thus, information disorder aggravates.     

 

It is important to note that there are politicians who engage in creating and spreading untruthful content online as propaganda. Their followers share this out of their own will, either because they are misinformed as well or as a task in a paid job as a social media troll. Meanwhile, unknowing audiences of these followers who lack the knowledge on fact-checking may believe these posts and share them with their audiences as well, further spreading disinformation. This is because even private individuals and anonymous groups tend to spread false information online for attention or to target others whom they want to attack. 

 

On the other hand, there are others who do not mean any harm but are not as well-informed at the subject they are discussing, thereby also causing them to unknowingly spread misinformation to their peers. 

 

Thorough fact-checking mechanisms are essential in online spaces in order to prevent more people from creating or being misled by these kinds of content. It creates a healthier and safer experience for individuals navigating these sites and an opportunity for the culprits to be held accountable, as their offenses are now recorded and put into the spotlight. 

 

Innovations in Fact-checking

 

As mentioned earlier, there has been an increase in the number of fact-checking initiatives during recent years. One of the most popular is the award-winning investigative journalism collective, Bellingcat. Their trailblazing use of open-source investigative tools has made way for a more intensive fact-checking process, covering global news stories and unearthing the most intricate details in these events, which continues to push the boundaries of journalism. Some of their biggest cases were about international crimes, such as the takedown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) in 2014, finding the coordinates of an Islamic State training camp, as well as tracking down the location where an American journalist was killed. 

 

Bellingcat is praised for its transparency in every report, seeing that all of their investigations are open-sourced—meaning, every piece of evidence they gather is available online. They track locations by identifying visual cues in photos and videos, and corroborating this information with images from applications such as Google Maps and Google Earth. They mostly gather pieces of evidence from social media sites, and thus, easily point out where and how they get their conclusions. Moreover, Bellingcat continuously gives out workshops and resources to teach people how they too can investigate news stories in the comfort of their own homes. 

 

There are plenty of tools that are now available online for people to use to fact-check or investigate different types of content or online activity. 

 

For sources of images, one can use TinEye. A user can simply upload a photo or a URL and the search engine will find its source along with its other copies on the internet. Google Images can also be used to track and find the photos you’re looking for. When looking at Facebook posts about a specific topic, you can use the keyword search, whopostedwhat.com. You can put specific details to aid in the search such as date, location, and even time range. As for Twitter, you can go to tweetbeaver.com to gather different types of data from accounts, such as mutual followers lists, as well as tweets in a specific user’s timeline. 

 

These websites are only examples of what we can use for fact-checking. With these sites, it is pretty evident that anyone has the power to fact-check any content on the internet. The advancement in technology has finally enabled everyday citizens to be in control of the media content they consume and even create content themselves. 

 

Regular people can now conduct an investigation on pressing issues that they hear on the news. With this, we have the ability to shed light on long-standing myths and untruths that people have believed. 

 

Advantages and disadvantages  

 

The ability of regular citizens to fact-check reinforces the power of democracy and strengthens the checks and balances within our society. With the rise of information disorder and the continuous attacks of the state against journalists in our country, regular citizens can take initiative and fight against malinformation. This materializes in the form of citizen journalism. Having more people, regardless of professional background, that can check content online can prevent more extreme occurrences of information disorder. 

 

On a more positive note, truthful and honest officials gain more credibility as the citizens learn about their sincerity. Should their words and track records be fact-checked, the officials who were already transparent to begin with, would only gain the public’s trust as time goes on. This then serves as an incentive for them to do good and do better, which is also beneficial to the general public. In other words, this is a win-win situation for both the righteous officials and their constituents.

 

Finally, considering that any regular citizen can participate in the fact-checking process, they could help one another in assessing certain experiences and events. A citizen could share their own experience, which could help another one achieve clarity in theirs. They could also fact-check their own experiences and assess if the information they hold is factual. Today, this specifically holds true in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. Because of the new capability of the netizens, they are able to immediately call out presumptuous posts, or those that are completely fabricated aimed to destroy someone’s reputation. This is the reason why we can see an increase in discourses within these platforms, and these discourses often catch the attention of mainstream media sites.

 

There are many benefits to more accessible fact-checking tools. However, these benefits also come at a certain cost.

 

In an interview with Foreign Policy, CIA former deputy chief of operations for Europe and Eurasia Marc Polymeropolous expressed their interest in the open-source investigation by Bellingcat. He stated that classified issues, such as conflicts or activities of Russia, can be discussed in public without revealing the sources of intelligence agencies. Due to the extremely public nature of the website's operations, the officers can just reference the work of Bellingcat. Meaning, due to the abundance of information and the information available at certain fact-checking sites, it would be easy for several officers to have an excuse to back their claims.

 

The citizens who do fact-checks may be used as a scapegoat for public officials and intelligence agencies, especially if these officials do not want to name their own sources. However, it can be mitigated by the citizens clamoring for transparency should there be any difference between the civilian reports and the investigation of the officials. 

 

Fact-checking and investigation often deal with sensitive private information. At times, we may even stumble upon classified information. People must recognize the responsibility that comes with using these tools and holding these kinds of information. Despite our desire to uncover the truth, we must remember the lives of those who will be affected by these investigations. 

 

In connection with this, it is worth noting that exposés usually gain intense public backlash. The personalities, officials, or entities involved with huge public scandals are often subjected to overly harsh criticism by the public. At times, the reports may get so aggressive that they destroy the credibility of the culprits. 

 

Uncovering the truth can truly be a difficult process. It is a trade-off that we should be willing to take in order to pursue accountability, justice, and transparency. It can also be a deterrent for others who wish to commit any illicit activities in the future. This would help lessen the corruption within systems, especially in the government, given that there are now more people who are equipped with investigative tools and skills powerful enough to expose the truth. 
 

Future of Fact-checking

 

There is a huge threat that is looming over the development of fact-checking, and this is the war that is waged by politicians against the truth. We are in the so-called “post-truth” era. Lee McIntyre, author of the book “Post-Truth,” defined post-truth as “political subordination of reality.” 

 

“It’s easy to have a misconception about what post-truth means. And to say that we live in a post-truth era doesn't mean that truth doesn't matter anymore, or that no one cares about the truth. It means that we live in an era where truth is at risk, where we're in danger of losing sight of what truth means… 

 

“I think of post-truth as a tactic that's used by authoritarians and their wannabes to control the flow of information so that they can then control the populace. It's intended not just to corrupt our belief in some specific thing that's true, but really to undermine the idea that we can know truth outside of political context,” McIntyre stated in an interview with Wbur in February 2020. 

 

Living in a post-truth world where people are easily swayed by emotions and political outbursts instead of facts, fact-checking initiatives must be more aggressive and assertive. 

 

Despite the hindrances, there is no doubt that the trend of fact-checking would only grow. As information gets more dense and confusing, more people would want to search for the truth and look for alternative sources. 

 

We are living in a post-truth world, exacerbated by the conditions brought by a pandemic. Many people have suffered terribly, and there is no end in sight in this situation we are all in. 

 

On one hand, this unrest may push more people to clamor for accountability for the failed plans that were promised at the start of the lockdown. On the other hand, it may just draw a line between the citizens, dividing those who stay loyal to the politicians who gave them endless promises, and those who are tired of hearing the same old words every day.

 

Fact-checking would play a huge role in holding officials accountable and ensuring that more people would break free from manipulation. Thus, there’s a high possibility that it would gain a presence in the mainstream media. As more people support these kinds of initiatives, there could be others who are encouraged to start their own investigations as well. 

 

Hopefully, fact-checking would become omnipresent in the online media, continuously giving the people the ability to take back their power through information.