Open AccessElectoral Disinformation: Looking Through the Lens of Tsek.ph Fact Checks
Author(s) -
Yvonne T. Chua,
Jake Soriano
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plaridel (university of the philippines - online)/plaridel
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2508-0504
pISSN - 1656-2534
DOI - 10.52518/2020.17.1-10chusrn
Subject(s) - disinformation , political science , social media , presidential system , presidential election , democracy , media studies , law , sociology , politics
Elections are fertile ground for disinformation. The 2019 midterm elections, like the 2016 presidential election, buttress this observation. This ugly side of electoral contests is documented by Tsek.ph, a pioneering collaborative fact-checking initiative launched by three universities and eleven newsrooms specifically for the midterms. Its repository of fact checks provides valuable insights into the nature of electoral disinformation before, during and after the elections. Clearly, electoral disinformation emanates from candidates and supporters alike, on conventional (e.g., speeches and sorties) and digital (e.g., social media) platforms. Its wide range of victims includes the media no less.