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Efforts to regulate online disinformation have intensified in the Philippines, with lawmakers proposing new penalties and authorities launching initiatives with major news organisations. These moves come as the news media industry is being reshaped by shifts in distribution, platform use, and audience behaviour, alongside persistent press freedom concerns.
Trust in news in the Philippines plummeted by 10 points in 2026, the steepest decline among all 48 markets covered by this year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report, amid deep political divisions, sustained attacks on the media and a continued shift toward social media, video platforms, creators and AI tools.
Concern over online mis- and disinformation in the Philippines climbed to a record 67% in early 2025 amid a politically charged midterm election season that saw Vice President Sara Duterte impeached on corruption charges and former president Rodrigo Duterte arrested by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity tied to his brutal drug war.
Amid this growing push to confront disinformation and AI risks, efforts to equip journalists with new tools also gained momentum. Newsrooms further experimented with generative AI. Rappler launched Rai, an in-house chatbot that guides users to verified information and election explainers. VERA Files deployed VERA, an AI-assisted fact-checking bot, on Facebook Messenger after piloting a tipline on Viber. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism turned one of its long-form reports into an AI-generated animated video to reach broader audiences.
AI-manipulated videos and audio have emerged as a growing disinformation tactic ahead of Monday’s midterm elections—more frequent, more targeted and more deceptive. Despite their rise, simpler manipulations, or shallowfakes, remain the more widespread threat, continuing to dominate the misinformation landscape flagged by fact-checkers.
The Marcos gold story has since gone viral on Chinese online platforms and has been amplified in the Philippines by supporters of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, including vlogger Claire Eden Contreras (aka Maharlika) and lawyer Harry Roque. Both have used the allegations to again attack President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and revive rumors about his alleged drug use.
Ten days after his arrest, false reports surfaced on Chinese digital media platforms claiming that former President Rodrigo Duterte had collapsed into a coma while in detention at The Hague, where he faces trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity linked to his bloody anti-drug war.
The stunning arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte by Interpol on March 11 has unleashed a torrent of disinformation across social media. Fabricated claims and misleading narratives widely cast him as a victim of injustice in an effort to garner public support.
The Philippine news media landscape has seen significant changes over the past year, especially in private broadcasting, which is experiencing a continuing decline in viewership. Concerns over press freedom persist.
Adult Filipinos are relying less on Facebook and other legacy social media platforms for news, increasingly turning to video-centric TikTok amid changing news consumption habits.
