Fake news, fake news everywhere. And there seems to be no stopping this anomaly what with the liking and commenting and sharing of posts on social media without verifying whether they are true and accurate.
Sadly, fake news could come from anyone: your Facebook friends, shady websites, and even trusted groups or organizations—say, a government office. Truth and accuracy be damned.
On May 29, government employee herself, Presidential Communications assistant secretary Mocha Uson reshared a photo on her Facebook page. The image, which shows uniformed officers kneeling in prayer, was captioned: “Let’s pray for our army. Panalangin din po natin ang mga pamilyang naiwan at nababahala sa kalagayan ng kanilang asawa at tatay.”
Assuming they were really our government troops battling the Maute group in Marawi City, followers shared and liked and commented the post only to find out later that the individuals in the photo are not Filipino soldiers, but Honduran police officers.
Uson immediately backpedaled, through another Facebook post, claiming that she didn’t say they were Philippine army. “I did not say that picture was taken from Marawi. It’s a symbol of army praying… Common sense na it is a symbolism,” she said.
and Twitter)
Well, if it’s common sense the government official is asking from people for her rather symbolic post, the Internet has a better idea.
People on Facebook and Twitter follow in her footsteps and show examples of #symbolisms. Everyone, take note!