The Break the Fake Movement is seeking micro and macro influencers who will help fight disinformation, a worsening issue in the Philippines. According to a recent Pulse Asia survey, 9 out of 10 Filipinos consider ‘fake news’ a problem, a national sentiment that covers all socio-economic classes. The study also revealed that social media influencers and journalists are seen as the top spreaders of disinformation. 

Given this worsening problem, the Break the Fake Movement designed a new program called the Media Civics Lab Fact-Checking Academy, a media and information literacy program that aims to fight disinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program started catering to SK leaders nationwide, and the initial groundwork will be supplemented through the addition of another layer of audience to its original design – the influencers.

The Break the Fake Movement is encouraging influencers who support critical thinking, responsible digital citizenship, and online etiquette to join a one-year leadership development and mentoring on fact-checking and multimedia content production to help combat disinformation by fact-checking information.

Program

The Break the Fake Movement, in partnership with Internews, will implement an influencer-led media and information literacy campaign under the project called Strengthening Disinformation Resilience in the Philippines – Six-Track Engagement Against Disinformation Initiative (STEAD-i).

The project’s objective is to strengthen a diverse coalition of stakeholders, including civil society organizations and local media stakeholders, to identify and respond to misinformation and disinformation in the Philippines.

In a span of 10 months, influencers will attend an Influencers Bootcamp, Live Masterclasses on media literacy and fact-checking, Filmmaking and Spoof Ads Competition, Creators Summit, and many other events.

Looking for Influencers Who Support Critical Thinking

As can be gleaned from the 2022 elections in the Philippines, many issues such as high volumes of troll accounts, exaggerated claims, false statements, and out-of-context narratives played a role in influencing public discourse. And this calls for a more calibrated response to protect our democracy.

With the rise of social media, citizens get a lot of content from platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. But unfortunately, many videos and texts that users see on social media are created by influencers and outlets whose objective is to deliberately spread fake news. Such influencers and outlets exploit the gullibility of certain communities to push their own selfish and partisan agenda.

Thus, the Break the Fake Movement is emphasizing the need for a micro-influencer-led campaign that is focused on supporting content creators that help fact-check information through content toolkits, access to experts, networking opportunities, and many others. 

These content creators, influencers, digital educators, and bloggers will be given mentoring opportunities by experts in the academe and the media field, access to key networking events, incentives and toolkits in running their multimedia fact-checks, and many other different forms of support. These micro-influencers should have a certain level of clout or influence within their communities as proven by their online presence and activities. 

So if you’re an influencer who fits the criteria, the Break the Fake Movement is encouraging you to apply for its one-year leadership development and mentoring program on fact-checking and media literacy. Aside from the benefits mentioned above, you will also be able to help protect and strengthen our democracy by posting truthful content.

Interested influencers can send their application through this link. For more information on the Break the Fake Movement, please visit breakthefakemovement.com