editorial I A most useful weapon against disinformation

N the age of social media, many people form their beliefs by digesting online posts. With so many sources of information on these platforms, it has become difficult to determine content that is based on fact, half-truth or outright lie. By sharing things we believe to be true when they may not be, we create a powerful ripple effect, influencing others to see them as fact. Once those beliefs are formed, they can become difficult to alter.

A lot of online stories masquerading as “news” are fake, created by people seeking to push bias or disinformation to deliberately cause harm. This is dangerous for young people who can be persuaded to accept distorted views as the truth. Fake social media accounts and trolls help make misinformation viral. The problem gets worse when real journalists report it as fact. When misinformation becomes the news, the line between fact and fiction gets blurred.

Fake news presents strong, often prejudiced opinion, as fact. Unfortunately, social media platforms routinely direct these opinions to those most likely to agree to reinforce them. This so-called “echo-chamber” effect is made worse by algorithms that encourage you to read material similar to what you are already sharing on social media.

“Know your sources and fight for the truth.” This was the advice of President Marcos to the public as he led the launching of the government’s new Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Campaign on Monday. He stressed the importance of giving people the “tools” to discern factual information from what is misinformation or disinformation by checking its source. (Read the BusinessMirror report: “Media, info literacy drive reels off to help people seeking truth,” August 15, 2023).

Marcos said that “information from the Internet is raw, unedited, curated and unexamined information. People have to learn to be able to discern for themselves what is real and what is not, what is propaganda, what is fact, and what is speculation.” The advent of artificial intelligence (AI), which allows machines to create information, complicates the situation. The youth, Marcos said, are the most at risk to “misguided and sinister activities” to twist the truth online since they have the biggest exposure to the Internet.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy VelicariaGarafil said they will address this issue by prioritizing the youth in their new MIL campaign, where the PCO partnered with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to develop the educators’ and learners’ MIL manual and incorporate it into the school curriculum.

“We will start with the youth since they are the most exposed to the digital landscape and to its dangers. Through the Media and Information Literacy Campaign, we will give them the tools to conduct critical assessment, and validate the source of information,” she said.

Garafil said they will also roll out the MIL campaign in communities so it can reach local leaders and ordinary citizens. The PCO also tapped social media giants like Meta, Google, Tiktok and X for their information campaign.

“Our formidable alliance is committed to ensuring that truth and accuracy prevail in a society where every voice contributes to the chorus of truth,” she said.

In an article published by brookings.com—How to combat fake news and disinformation—Darrell M. West said “fake news and sophisticated disinformation campaigns are especially problematic in democratic systems, and there is growing debate on how to address these issues without undermining the benefits of digital media.”

West offered a comprehensive solution: “In order to maintain an open, democratic system, it is important that government, business, and consumers work together to solve these problems. Governments should promote news literacy and strong professional journalism in their societies. The news industry must provide high-quality journalism in order to build public trust and correct fake news and disinformation without legitimizing them. Technology companies should invest in tools that identify fake news, reduce financial incentives for those who profit from disinformation, and improve online accountability. Educational institutions should make informing people about news literacy a high priority. Finally, individuals should follow a diversity of news sources, and be skeptical of what they read and watch.”

Critical thinking is one of the most useful weapons we have against online disinformation. As author W. Somerset Maugham said: “The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.”

‘A former tantric sex coach’

John Mangun

Outside The Box

ThIs person is the 52-year-old son of a bus driver who holds a Licentiate in Economics and two master’s degrees in economics. For more than 20 years, he has been a University Professor of Macroeconomics, having written over 50 academic papers and nine books.

He is adviser to his national government for the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Also, he is an “Adviser and Member, Group of Economic Policy” for the Group of 20 nations (G-20) and its Business Twenty (B20) official community forum. Formally, he was a Senior Economist at HSBC and Head Economist for a private pension company and a financial advising company for sovereign wealth funds.

Currently, he is Head Economist at Corporación América, the largest private airport operator in the world by number of airports. He believes Ben Bernanke was the greatest central banker ever.

His country, Argentina, has since independence in 1816 defaulted on its debt nine times, the latest in 2020. The annual inflation rate was 115 percent in June. The benchmark interest rate is 118 percent. The GDP Annual Growth Rate was 1.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.

Needless to say, the S&P sovereign credit rating is “CCC/currently vulnerable to nonpayment” (again) with a “Negative” outlook. Industrial production contracted by 2.3 percent year-on-year in June. Since 2013, the US dollar has appreciated 5,600 percent against the Argentine peso; by comparison the dollar is up 30 percent against the Philippine peso.

Javier Milei is also an elected member of the lower house of the Argentine National Congress.

The current President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, had an approval rating—last polled in June 2022—of less than 20 percent as did his Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Fernández decided not to seek re-election.

On August 13, the “Simultaneous and Mandatory Open Primaries” were conducted in preparation for the October general election. Voters choose a “political alliance” of two or more parties and also vote for a presi-

Carousel out, circus back

T.

Lourdes

Jennifer

Vittorio

Thomas M. Orbos

Street Talk

TWO pandemic initiatives that benefitted our transportstarved commuters—the bike lanes and the Edsa Bus Carousel—are now facing real threats of being taken out of our urban landscape.

With mobility demands hitting more than pre-pandemic levels, these two transport programs are being forced out, and worse, casting them as obstructions to better traffic flow and transport supply. Are our memories too short? Do we really want to go back to the road chaos we had before?

It was only two years ago when we were all praises for these two initiatives. Take the bike lanes. With very few mass transport options at that time, commuters shifted to micro-mobility modes with bi- dential candidate from their chosen “alliance.” Milei’s party, without an alliance partner, garnered 30 percent of the vote with the number two alliance gaining 28 percent and number three at 27 percent. However, as a single candidate for president, he won 30 percent with number two getting 21 percent and third place finishing at 17 percent. Milei won 16 of Argentina’s 24 regions. Preelection polls advised Milei would finish no higher than third.

The global news headlines: Reuters, August 14: “Radical right-wing candidate shakes up Argentina presidential election.” BBC, August 15: “Trump admirer leads race for Argentina presidency.” El País (Spain): “Ultra-conservative Javier Milei capitalizes on the protest vote and wins.” Financial Times: “Argentina radical right-winger with primary win.” The Week: “Far-right candidate who wants to legalize organ sales wins Argentina’s presidential primary.”

Those sources described the winner this way. “Milei, a former television personality and one-term congressional representative.” “The firebrand economist, whose boisterous campaign rallies draw comparisons to Donald Trump.” Euractiv: “A rock-singing libertarian outsider candidate.” The Guardian: “A former tantric sex coach.”

Here are some of his “radical” economic agenda ideas called “unfeasible” by Bloomberg. “Sharply cut state spending, privatizing deficitmaking public companies, reducing labor taxes, reducing the number of public workers, eliminating export infrastructures some two years ago. taxes, and exploration of natural resources through a system of royalties.” He also wants to eventually eliminate the Argentine central bank. Note the last point.

Government needs to step in and be the guardians of long-term solutions. Our temporal glance is a signal to government that there is something wrong right now and that it is up to them to bring us back to what is right. Otherwise, we might as well accept the circus that we now have on our roads.

After the election results: ABCNews: “Argentine peso plunges after rightist who admires Trump comes first.” Except it was the Central Bank of Argentina, the one Milei wants to abolish, that raised the benchmark interest rate to 118 percent from the previous 97 percent and “devalued the local currency by 20 percent early Monday morning after the surprising Sunday showing.” Just a happy coincidence, no doubt.

Perhaps the reason Milei is considered “radical” is that he thinks climate change is a hoax, has skepticism about the Covid-19 vaccines, is opposed to abortion, rejects sexual education in schools, and endorses free possession of firearms by the civilian population.

If you are keeping score, Milei checks almost all the boxes for “ultraright libertarian and anarcho-capitalist.” Also, Milei said that, while he does not necessarily advocate it as a national currency like El Salvador, “Bitcoin represents the return of money to its original creator, the private sector.” tive effort to enforce protection of these lanes. In the crowded noise of our Metro Manila roads, the hapless bicyclist is now practically left on his own. cycles as the preference because of its affordability, not to mention its health benefits and benefits to the environment. The government responded by providing the needed infrastructure with both the national and local governments competing on setting up bike lanes, some hastily and unplanned, but nevertheless with much enthusiasm and support. In Metro Manila alone, around 439 kilometers were built, out of the total of 1,778 kilometers nationwide. Close to P 2.2 billion was allocated for the construction of these bike

Milei might be wise to hire a food taster and to decline any private late-night meetings at the World Economic Forum.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

But looking at our roads right now, it seems that these once heralded bike lanes are like remnants of a past civilization. Motorized vehicles, both the 4- and the 2-wheeled kind, fighting for every space on the congested roads, brazenly violate these lanes, the bollards gone or torn apart. There were efforts by private organizations to protect these lanes, somewhat successfully; but as a whole, the bike lane advocates are losing the battle. Two main causes: no new government allocation for its maintenance—just a mere P7 million for 2024; and no more ac-

The Edsa bus carousel is another story. Unlike the bicycle lanes that motorists readily disrespect for sheer survival to traverse our now congested roads, the Edsa bus carousel is a welcome sight by all motorists who remember vividly the chaos when the buses operated on the curbside. Pre-pandemic, the buses lorded it over, stopping anywhere at their whim and occupying any lane they would want to. Enforcement was a cat and mouse game, and took out much effort and resources. During my stint at the MMDA, we had specific rules that would not be appreciated now—the “closed door policy,” a deterrent for bus drivers to stop anywhere; and the “nose in, nose out violation” preventing buses to use the roads to maneuver, thus practically blocking the flow of traffic. With the Edsa carousel, there is now a semblance of order. Bus