As you open your phone and scroll through social media, do you ever just pause and wonder whether what you see is true? The moment you possess the ability to use technology, some sort of magic surfaces at the tips of your fingers that enables you to speak whatever comes to mind. This gives us the power to voice out our thoughts, but we cannot escape the fact that some people take this for granted and abuse their so-called power for their personal gains, resulting in misinformation and disinformation of many. 

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     Whether you believe it or not, the media has really become a core part of society on which we have until now relied so heavily. But wouldn't centering our lives around these innovations be unhealthy? Knowing full well that with all the overwhelming information going around the internet, it is already becoming more and more difficult to pinpoint which of these claims are accurate. It is indeed true that for some people, social media has been their go-to source for credible news, but doing so is still somewhat dangerous given that anyone has the power to disseminate misleading information on these venues. Whether what you publish is factual or not doesn't matter here, because everybody can post anything on the internet without restriction, regardless of age or intention.

 

     On a daily basis, we come across false information online and in personal interactions. Some of these were merely spread by accident because of casual mistakes. This is how some people use the internet; they simply share whatever content appears in their feeds without verifying to see if it's authentic or not. Misinformation isn't purposefully spread to lead others astray. They could have been rooted in careless actions because, news flash, we humans aren’t perfect. It is entirely different, however, when someone spreads a claim despite being aware of its inaccuracies. Disinformation is deliberately created to blind the public to what is real, confuse people, and obscure the truth in favor of furthering one's own agenda.

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     Some may not realize but the severity of these issues in today's society is no joke. These lies go on concealing the truth and attempting to distort reality in order to manipulate people's thinking. Imagine how much it affects the life of its victim when they are forced to live a lie-filled existence without even noticing it. We can see how much of an influence this has had on Filipinos' perspectives by looking back at the most recent elections. Many of us were blinded by the incorrect facts circulated via social media in an effort to alter media authenticity, which led some to make irrational decisions. It breaks my heart to see how these lies had people in a chokehold and how they are captivated into living by such because of their mistaken perception of reality.

 

     No one can contest the belief that no amount of lies can ever alter the truth, despite all the efforts to distort the facts. The truth will not cease to be the truth because nobody believes it, and though a lie may cover up facts, it could never become true no matter if the whole world buys it.