PNG’s STRUGGLE BATTLING FAKE NEWS AND MISINFORMATION IS ALSO A REGIONAL CHALLENGE FOR ASIA-PACIFIC MEDIA OUTLETS

Over the last three weeks, the Papua New Guinean Opposition has led a boycott to stop buying the two daily newspapers in the country over allegations that their (newspaper) reports were biased and have been promoting government agendas.

There were allegations also that journalists were bribed to run biased reports for politicians and ministers in the government including Prime Minister Peter O’Neil.

However, prior to that a PNG Government Minister was reported by a local newspaper that he wants to ban Facebook in PNG following reports of fake news by unknown individuals on social media.

This led to several debates and arguments by politicians and the general public on why Facebook should not be banned, which was an unofficial statement made by the minister and used by the media.

PNG journalists were criticized following the attacks with reporters alleged to have been bribed to write propagandas for politicians.

Papua New Guinea media shares a lot of struggles with our Asian neighbors when it comes to battling freedom of press and the spread of fake and misleading news.

Misinformation on mainstream and social media is a major concern in the Asia Pacific Region.

The International Fact Checkers Network (IFCN) highlighted several methods towards fighting misinformation during the 2018 APAC Trusted Media Summit in Singapore this week.

Masito Kajimoto from the Journalism and Media studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong says fact-checking and verification initiatives exists and should be effectively researched through collaborations from journalists.

In some countries, misinformation can be deadly serious. Certain vulnerable topics differ in each country. There should be tougher laws and legislation to crackdown and or censor fake information to be published.

The summit also highlights that the integrity of the Legal System is questionable in some countries where people have little or no trust in the system. Social justice is a bigger part of journalism in peoples’ mind.

Facebook Product Manager Jason Rudin told regional journalists that gathered that technology is helping fake news to spread quickly and become more credible. However, Facebook has built new tools help fight misinformation through it’s applications.

BBC’s Digital Launch Editor with the Indian News Service Trushar Barot is working on a project on Beyond Fake news in India. The scope of work includes five key elements on Research, Digital Literacy, Editorial Session, Conferences and Hackathon.

In the next coming days, this summit organized by the Google Singapore, Storyful and IFCN will deliberate on more ways to combat misinformation and fake news in the region.

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