A pioneering collaborative fact‐checking project to combat fake news and other forms of disinformation in the run‐up to the May 2019 elections will be launched tomorrow, February 11 (Monday), 10 a.m., at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Called “Tsek.ph”, the online project initially brings together three universities and eleven news organizations to verify claims made in connection with the 2019 elections.
University of the Philippines President Danilo Concepcion and UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan will lead the signing of the memorandum of understanding among the partner universities and media organizations.
The initial media partners of the project are ABS‐CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs, Baguio Midland Courier, Interaksyon, Mindanews, the Philippine Star, Philstar.com, Probe Productions, CLTV 36, Rappler, Vera Files and DZUP. The academic partners are Ateneo de Manila University,
De La Salle University and the University of the Philippines. The collaborative project is spearheaded by the UP College of Mass Communication’s Journalism Department, the UP College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and the UP College of Law. More media partners will be invited to Tsek.ph.
Tsek.ph also has international support from the Facebook Journalism Project and Meedan.
Tsek.ph partners hope to prevent a repeat of the country’s experience in the 2016 election during which “fake news,” hoaxes and other forms of disinformation were deployed to influence voters’ choices, deceive the public and undermine rational debates.
They share the belief that voters need accurate information on which to base their decisions, weigh the merits of each candidate and have reliable media platforms where issues can be explored and discussed freely to sustain democracy.
The election‐related information that will be fact‐checked by Tsek.ph include platforms and campaign promises of candidates; statements and remarks made by candidates, personalities, government agencies, and other entities; and election‐related posts on social media, blogs and other platforms.
The verified claims will be then given ratings in relation to the degree of their veracity, falsity and completeness (Accurate, False, Misleading, No Basis and Needs Context).
Tsek.ph is guided by the Code of Principles of the International Fact‐checking Network (IFCN) that is committed to fairness and nonpartisanship, a transparency of sources, funding and methodology and openness to corrections ‐‐ values that are important in social‐media driven and partisan information environment of the 2019 Philippine elections.
For more information about the project please contact the UP CMC Department of Journalism,up.journ.dept@mail.com or at 9818500 local 2672.
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