FACT CHECKING 1

GED104

It was two years ago during COVID-19 days, but this social media post was about
spreading misinformation about our heroes who bravely fight against the deadly virus
and survive along with us. The post has received thousands of reactions from people who
are enraged at our government since they spread misinformation and maltreated the
saviours during the pandemic. DOH already made a strong statement that this
information that was spread was all fake, and they stated that just because you haven’t
gotten the vaccine doesn’t mean you can't work or get free stuff from the government.

The Facebook post was very misleading, to the point that people are enraged. The
clue was that people have already struggled during the pandemic, so it doesn’t make
sense that people aren’t allowed to work even though they are not vaccinated. They can
still wear facemasks to avoid spreading viruses if they have any, but having this
information spread through social media is nonsense. It is obviously fake since it wasn’t
posted by any official government health pages on social media, and people shouldn’t
believe anything that isn’t in the news or official yet.

According to DOLE, the phrase "No vaccine, no work" was an unlawful policy in a
workplace. Through DOLE Labor Advisory No. 3, Series of 2021, Secretary Silvestre
"Bebot" H. Bello III reiterates that "any employee who refuses or fails to be vaccinated
shall not be discriminated against in terms of tenure, promotion, training, pay, and other
benefits, among others, or terminated from employment." They have their own rights to
refuse, and they probably have reasons to refuse since they might think the vaccine was
unsafe, they have a phobia of needles, and many more. The government should have
implemented mandatory vaccination, and people don’t deserve the discrimination they
get from not getting vaccinated.

The rapid spread of inaccurate information and misinformation online can have
consequences that are both short- and long-lasting. In the short term, people's
perceptions of the issue will be altered. The media quickly influences people, which
encourages undesirable actions like discrimination, judgment, and many others. People
might make health-harming choices if the general public has these false beliefs. In the
long term, people will eventually grow to distrust the media, which will encourage more
people to believe fake news and other forms of misinformation instead of trusting reliable
sources. The Facebook algorithm is a prime instance of this. The algorithm that makes it
more likely for misleading posts to surface in a Facebook user's newsfeed if they interact
with and believe specific bogus news reinforces their habit of believing false information.

As an STS student, if I see this kind of post on social media again, I should provide
proven information in order for them to not believe the fake news or disinformation. If
ever there is a fake post from one of my friends, I should tell him through private chat
to verify it first in order to not spread false information widely. Users take on the role of
manipulators and experience interacting with others in an environment with a networking
theme. With this in mind, I encourage all my social media acquaintances, friends, and
more to do the same.
 REFERENCES

DOH. (2021, FEB 17) “No Vaccine, No Work Policy” Prohibited, DOLE
Reminds
https://ro1.dole.gov.ph/news/no-vaccine-no-work-policy-prohibited-
dole
reminds/#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Labor%20and,in%
20the%20workplace%20is%20unlawful.

FACEBOOK. (2021, AUG 5) “Hindi totoo na kapag hindi ka nabakunahan ay

ibig-sabihin wala kang ayuda o hindi ka pwedeng magtrabaho.
”https://www.facebook.com/DOHgovPH/photos/hindi-totoo-na-
kapag-hindi-ka-nabakunahan-ay-ibig-sabihin-wala-kang-ayuda-o-
hind/4660040504007165/?paipv=0&eav=AfZz3UhM1xoufzqHu5QqMfr
F9_mg5m-QfNV-ZDdvnmAXhpYl8APKxM1cro0Ixuyhxvw&_rdr

GMA (2021, AUG 5) “Walang bakuna, walang ayuda sa ECQ: Fake news,
ayon kay Abalos”
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/balitambayan/balita/798227/wal
ang-bakuna-walang-ayuda-sa-ecq-fake-news-ayon-kay-abalos/story/