‘Fake news’ a problem in PH? 9 in 10 Filipinos agree, says Pulse Asia

MANILA, Philippines — A new Pulse Asia survey revealed that about 9 in 10 Filipino adults, or 86 percent, see the proliferation of “fake news” as a problem in the country.

In a poll conducted from September 17-21, only 14 percent of respondents across the country do not regard fake news as an issue.

The highest concentration of respondents who believed that fake news is a problem was in Balance Luzon, at 92 percent, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila at 87 percent, Mindanao at 81 percent, and the Visayas at 77 percent.

Only eight percent of respondents in Balance Luzon said that fake news is not a concern. Metro Manila followed with 13 percent, Mindanao with 19 percent, and the Visayas with 23 percent.

“About nine (9) out of every 10 adults (86%) are of the view that false news or fake news is a problem in the Philippines. This is the prevailing sentiment at the national level (86%) as well as in each geographic area and socio-economic grouping (77% to 92% and 74% to 93%, respectively),” said a Pulse Asia report released Tuesday.

“An overwhelming majority of the country’s adult population (90%) have read, heard, and/or watched fake political news; internet or social media (68%) and television (67%) are the leading sources of fake news about government and politics,” it added.

Aside from social media and television, the survey respondents said they heard or read fake news from the following media:

• radio (32 percent)
• friends/ acquaintances (28 percent)
• family/ relatives (21 percent)
• leaders in the community (four percent)
• newspaper (three percent)
• religious leader (one percent)

Meanwhile, some 21 percent of respondents said they hear or watch fake news daily, while 26 percent said a few times a week; 17 percent said once a week; 25 percent said a few times a month; and 10 percent said never.

Regarding who is responsible for spreading fake news, 58 percent of respondents pointed to social media influencers as the top source. This was followed by journalists (40 percent), national-level politicians (37 percent), local politicians (30 percent), civic leaders (15 percent), businesspeople (11 percent), and academics or teachers (four percent).

“Social media influencers, bloggers, and/or vloggers are seen by most Filipino adults (58%) as peddlers of fake news about government and politics. For a small majority of adults (58%), social media influencers, bloggers, and/or vloggers are responsible for spreading fake political news in the country – an opinion shared by most Metro Manilans (69%), those in the rest of Luzon (67%), and those belonging to Class ABC and D (69% and 58%, respectively),” Pulse Asia said.

According to Pulse Asia, the survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents, with a margin of error of ± 2.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level for nationwide figures. It added that subnational estimates have ± 5.7 percent error margins for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation or false information, commonly referred to as fake news, has been a growing problem in the Philippines with the widespread use of social media – where content is not immediately verifiable.

In the 2022 national elections, several observers and fact-checkers claimed a notable increase in the distribution of fake news targeting several candidates.

READ: Fact-checkers call preelection fake news a ‘firehose of falsehoods’

READ: Poll postmortem: Disinformation meets dissatisfaction

A Social Weather Stations survey in February showed that 70 percent of Filipino adults think fake news proliferation is a serious problem.

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