Abstract
Political disinformation is a multifaceted concern, during the previous Philippine elections, reports on the use of disinformation escalated. Several studies and literatures probe on the disinformation tactics of some political candidates through the use of influencers and fake account operators. Correspondingly, Philippine Commission on Elections imposes the virtual electoral campaign for the upcoming 2022 election as pandemic is still a threat to the country. This advance approach to election campaign brought risks on the proliferation of disinformation for political propaganda. This study employed a quantitative and qualitative method in determining the risk perception of the Filipino Facebook users on disinformation and online electoral campaign for the upcoming 2022 elections. The data was gathered from 140 Filipino Facebook users and 3 key informants. Finding shows that there were significant relationship on the level of engagement and level of awareness of Filipino Facebook users on disinformation. Likewise, Facebook engagement and attitude of Filipino Facebook users on disinformation also has significant relationships. Qualitative data explains the used disinformation to swayed emotional aspect of people’s decision and beliefs. Aside from emotional and experiential factor the historical revisionism was widely interpret by informants to influence the preference of Filipinos. Thus, the study suggests the formulation of studies on the behavioral impact of disinformation and studies justifying the influence of political history on the electoral preferences of Filipinos.
Presenters
Paula PobleteStudent, Department of Communication Research, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Philippines
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus: Trust, Surveillance, Democracy
KEYWORDS
DISINFORMATION, PROPAGANDA, ELECTIONS, VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN, ELECTORAL PREFERENCE
