Prevalence of election-related disinformation highlights need for technologies to promote truth

May 30, 2025 , 02:12 PM

Last year, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released Resolution No. 11064, which laid out the guidelines aimed at addressing the spread of false and misleading information on social media ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.

The COMELEC guidelines — which included rules on the use of social media and artificial intelligence for election campaigning — came amid rising concerns on deepfakes, or fabricated video or audio recordings made to appear close to indistinguishable from the real. Just earlier in the same year, at least two alleged deepfakes of no less than Pres. Bongbong Marcos himself drew national attention.

During the Philippines’ midterm elections this year, it is estimated that nearly half, or up to 45% of social media discussions were driven by fake accounts or bots, based on figures from social threat intelligence platform Cyabra — a partner of Meltwater, a global leader in media, social and consumer intelligence. This is far above the 7% to 10% global average.

“Disinformation is eroding public trust, undermining media integrity, and even shaping public opinion in aggressive political influence campaigns,” Meltwater said.

A 2022 white paper published by Internews and Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center also found that “influence operations” played a role in shaping conversations during the time leading up to the 2022 elections.

The term refers to “strategic communications that aim to hack attention, mobilize audiences, and influence electoral outcomes” — this could include disinformation but is not limited to it.

“The main consequence of influence operations in 2022 is the creation of parallel public spheres or two separate information ecosystems aligned with hardened political identities. Legacy media’s role as gatekeeper of the national political center has eroded as citizens engage with news, punditry, and entertainment that affirm their political identity,” the report read.

The prevalence of misinformation in the Philippines raised concerns as more than three in five Filipinos said that it was difficult to determine which information was fake or wrong, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Despite the spread of false information on online platforms, close to 60% of Filipinos said that they viewed misinformation online as a serious issue, based on the SWS poll.

Combatting disinformation

Over the recent years, the government and civil society organizations have taken steps to address the spread of false information on social media.

A number of civil society actors such as news organizations and advocacy groups rolled out initiatives to address misinformation.

For instance, during the months leading up to the 2022 elections, more than 100 organizations including News5 participated in the Facts First PH initiative, which involved fact-checking false information on social media and conducting research on disinformation in the country.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence and comprehensive monitoring could also be used to its advantage to combat disinformation, as they can be utilized to scan vast datasets to uncover emerging narratives before they spread.

This could especially prove useful as some experts have raised concerns that false information spread faster than traditional media could correct them.

“With false narratives spreading six times faster than the truth, and even prompting warnings from COMELEC and the Presidential Communications Office, there’s a critical need to respond swiftly. This is where technology plays a vital role, monitoring public sentiment and detecting falsehoods before they take root,” Meltwater said.

For the part of the government, the COMELEC established the “Task Force KKK” or “Katotohanan, Katapatan, at Katarungan” to help in dealing with election-related misinformation this year, particularly amid the rise of deepfakes. The poll body also engaged and partnered with social media platforms aimed at addressing the issue.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology also collaborated with the COMELEC earlier this year to crack down on organized “troll armies,” PNA reported.

(CD)

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Commitment

TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.

We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.

Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?

We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:

To deliver news and updates on current events, sports, esports and entertainment;
To share livestreams of news and sports events;
To understand our viewers’ needs and preferences;
To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
To perform other processes or disclosures that are required to comply with pertinent laws, rules, or regulations.

Where do we get your personal information?

There are several ways we collect your personal information.

Information that you personally provided.

Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
- Register to our programs or services;
- Inquired, filed a complaint or requested for our services;
- Took part in our research and surveys; and/or
- Became our Partner, Vendor, Contractor or Supplier.

Information we collect during your engagement with us

We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
- Viewing our websites;
- Activities that are being tracked by our website cookies;
- Calling our hotline;
- Using our apps, websites, and self-service channels and portals; and/or
- Joining our promos, prize raffles, or rewards and loyalty programs.

Information we collect from other sources

Other means of collection of information may be through:
- Our market research initiatives;
- When you visit and use our websites and mobile application; and
- Subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party business partners to whom you have given consent to share your information to us.

When do we disclose personal information?

There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.

We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.

In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.

How we protect your personal information

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.

We also put in effect the following safeguards:

We keep and protect your information using a secured server behind a firewall, encryption and security controls;
We keep your information only for as long as it is necessary for us to (a) provide the products and services that you avail from us, (b) for our legitimate business purposes, (c) to comply with pertinent laws, and (d) for special cases that will require the exercise or defense of legal claims;
We limit the access to your information only to qualified and authorized personnel who are trained to handle your information with strict confidentiality;
We undergo regular audits and rigorous testing of our infrastructure’s security protocols to ensure your data is always protected;
We promptly notify you and the National Privacy Commission when sensitive personal information that may, under the circumstances, be used to enable identity fraud are reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person; and
We let you update your information securely to keep our records accurate.

TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.

What are your choices?

We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.

If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.

Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph

What happens when there are changes in our Policy?

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.

You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.