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The Tool Against Disinformation

Ferdinand L. Sanchez II, Juan Felix and Robert Komiks

Side-by-die images of a multi-tool labelled ‘the tool against disinformation’. The first image has only one visible tool, labelled ‘fact-checking’. The second image has a range of visible tools, labelled creative responses, coalition building, fact checking, academic research and legal reforms

Since the 2016 national elections, disinformation in the Philippines has evolved adapting to dominant interventions against fake news. Fact-checking, digital literacy, and platform moderation became go-to-solutions, but disinformation actors developed ways to circumvent these tools, impacting Filipino society in the succeeding elections. Disinformation then became more than spreading lies. It exploited systemic vulnerabilities and deepened social cracks leading to further inequality and polarization.

While not all is lost, our tried-and-tested efforts alone do not suffice. Robert Komiks’ cartoon emphasizes the robust toolset needed to effectively and holistically respond to disinformation’s impacts. Counter-disinformation tools and their artisans must draw from the expertise of different sectors to sustain innovation and collaboration. Diverse and new actors can offer unique perspectives to address immediate and emerging problems of disinformation.

About the academic

Ferdinand L. Sanchez II

Ferdinand L. Sanchez II is a Manila-based researcher at Sigla Research Center and a research assistant at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. He co-authored a number of publications including Parallel Public Spheres: Influence Operations in the 2022 Philippine Elections (2022) and From Disinformation to Influence Operations: The Evolution of Disinformation in Three Electoral Cycles (2023). His work focuses on disinformation, deliberative democracy, and Filipino masculinities.

Juan Felix

Juan Felix is the Head of Public Engagement at Sigla Research Center. He is a human rights worker and researcher whose work informed Philippine organizations’ campaigns combating online anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, and network-strengthening for activists and women environmental defenders. His interests center on social media affordances and disinformation. He co-authored From Disinformation to Influence Operations: The Evolution of Disinformation in Three Electoral Cycles (2023).

About the artist

Robert Komiks

Arvee D. Lao/Robert Komiks is a mechanical engineer and a self-taught illustrator/graphic designer based in Marikina City and Lucena City, Philippines. His cartoons focus on societal issues, social media trends, and slices of life, tackling various themes such as the spread and evolution of disinformation, corruption and incompetence of politicians, international affairs, etc.

Previous Image: Art against Disinformation

This illustration is part of the Academics and Artists addressing Social Challenges initiative

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