‘Fake news’ or false information shared mistakenly (misinformation) or deliberately (disinformation) has been known to manipulate public sentiment and behavior, which in turn has impacted many lives. With its production and distribution becoming more sophisticated, the education sector should review and improve its current strategies to fight online deception.
This study investigates how users assess the trustworthiness of online information. Specifically, it analyzes how teachers evaluated online posts during a workshop on spotting fake news. Almost half of the participants were not able to assess correctly which of the posts were true or not. Furthermore, they were more likely to trust a fake post when the information reflects a similar experience or confirms a prior insight. Another reason for trusting is when a logo of the source is present in the text or image (even if it wasn't posted by the source itself or the source is not reliable).
This presentation was made during Sipat Edukasyon 2022 held on 21 November 2022. Sipat Edukasyon is the annual research dissemination forum of the Education Research Program of the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS). It aims to share ERP’s research output with various stakeholders and to generate discussions to encourage future studies.