Google Trends data has revealed that the Philippines is the top country in the world that searches for terms like “fake news” and “misinformation” in 2023 and is among the top ten nations in the world for searching topics like “disinformation” and “fact-checking.” This implies that more Filipinos are becoming increasingly curious and eager to understand these critical issues.
Mervin Wenke, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at Google Philippines, highlights the importance of access to trusted information and content, stating that Google’s objective is to empower media, creators, and fact-checkers with the tools, opportunities, and capacity to help people make informed opinions online.
Google and YouTube are committed to promoting news and media literacy in the Philippines using various tools and approaches. These include features like the “About This Result” feature on Google Search, as well as Breaking News on YouTube, Information Panels, Community Guidelines, Fact-checking Training, and Fact-checking Grants.
Google’s Fact-checking Training has consistently held capacity-building workshops globally to help media assess information online. Over the past years, it has trained more than 177,500 journalists in 17 countries across the Asia Pacific, including the Philippines.
In addition, Google and YouTube provide grants to organizations to help strengthen fact-checking efforts. The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute has received a $13.2M grant from Google and YouTube to launch a new Global Fact-Check Fund which is open to applications from IFCN’s network of 135 fact-checking organizations from 65 countries, including the Philippines, covering over 80 languages. Applications are open until May 15, 2023, for grants from the Fund’s first phase, called BUILD. Interested applicants may submit their application here.
Google is committed to supporting and enabling fact-checking and helping media and creators succeed on platforms like Shorts. Wenke believes that both media and creators play a crucial role in ensuring that more Filipinos online can access trusted information even on new formats like short videos.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
