When You Can’t Tell The Difference Between Fake News And Fiction

The proliferation of fake news in this country is a big plague we’re all dealing with, because it unfortunately follows that many people believe them. It’s because people would rather believe what they want to believe instead of the actual truth, and thanks to the internet, anyone can publish whatever they want, without minding the consequences.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan wants to make the publication of fake news a crime. To be fair, only the social media platforms themselves would be penalized if he had his way. However, infamous pro-admin online personality Sass Sasot had something silly to say about it:

Hold up there. Two things. First, fake news and fiction share the similarity of being imaginary, but at least fiction, by itself and in general, isn’t a form of art that tries to pass itself off as being real. Therefore, it’s got no chance at misleading others and hurting people. There’s some real danger involved in spreading fake news, and it’s irresponsible to just shrug it off as merely being untrue. That’s why Sen. Pangilinan wants to make it a crime somehow (although his intentions with regard to liability needs a little work); when people become misled and a major fuck-up happens along the way, somebody’s got to pay for it.

Second thing: with a reaction like that, do you guys implicitly admit to pulling this kind of stuff off? You’d think that everyone across all sides of the fence would be united against false truths, no matter who you think is peddling falsehoods, whether it’s blogs or mainstream media. Such a lukewarm response sorta gives you away, fellas.

In any case, Twitter is reacting to this claim in true Twitter fashion. The #MagkaibaYan (“that’s different”) hashtag is lighting up with a lot of hilarious examples of the difference between fake news and fiction. Check it out:

Really gotta get it together, Other Team.

Image from BBC News