THE POWER OF PROPAGANDA AND FAKE NEWS
by Donald Sevilla
Many a person’s character and reputation have been seriously damaged by malicious aspersions unto himself even though unfounded. In this age of the internet amid a variety of social media platforms it is easy to destroy or promote a person to favor one’s interest.
Truth does not seem necessary to project a particular reality. To assassinate a person’s character is as effortless as the click of a computer’s mouse or the touch of a keyboard.
Our lives have revolved around gadgets and social media that we are too dependent on it for our sources of news and information. This is a tragic reality that has given rise to internet trolls, cyber bullies and keyboard assassins.
Nowadays it does not necessarily take a bullet to ” kill” a person. Constant vilification and bombardment of malicious information against him are enough to murder his good name.
So what then must we do to stem the tide of misinformation spreading around? Fact-checking is a handy tool as well as not being gullible to accept things readily, hook , line and sinker.
We must not be emotional in order not to cloud our judgment. Facing matters objectively and logically help to establish a degree of veracity to debunk fake news. Learning to distinguish between propaganda and facts greatly help ascertain truth.
While there are social media influencers with a lot of followers out there, it does not necessarily mean they churn out responsible and factual content.
And herein lies the danger, where those having power and influence, dispense it recklessly without regard to its consequences and effect on others.
Yet as responsible citizens in a society, it behooves upon us to exercise a degree of wisdom and discernment, lest we be taken for a ride.
Let us not become ” innocent” conspirators in a plot to destroy another person by getting carried away by the bandwagon. Instead we must learn to think our own amid the flurry of information floating around. We must learn to sift the lies from the truth.