AI-driven disinfo in SE Asia highlights need for fact-checking & literacy

Singapore also experienced a similar AI incident last year when a deep-faked video of the city-state’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong advocating a cryptocurrency scheme went viral.

More fact-checkers

Despite efforts from governments in Southeast Asia to address disinformation, the study concluded that a “multi-faceted approach” is needed to tackle disinformation.

The study recommends policies for governments based on an ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) meeting in September of last year, which include promoting media literacy as well as implementing legal and regulatory measures.

It also suggests that digital platforms bolster their fact-checking abilities and collaborate with outside parties to monitor the content on their platforms.

While several fact-checking organizations have bloomed in some Southeast Asian countries, CSIS researcher Fitriani, who is part of the study, noted the need to make fact-checking “sustainable” in the future as technology continues to develop.

“To what extent is fact-checking effective, and who fact-checks the fact-checker? We need to come up with a solution for these questions,” she said.

Media literacy is also at a dire point since low- and middle-income countries are more prone to disinformation, the report said, as they have relatively lower levels of education and literacy.

Such issues call for collaborative efforts between Southeast Asian countries, as the report found that disinformation “does not recognize borders” and that its campaigns may originate domestically or abroad.

“It is time for Southeast Asian countries to work together and strengthen the trust of the people in the region,” Usman added.

Several countries, like Malaysia, have bolstered their fact-checking websites, digital literacy programs and content supervision with the help of the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission.

The Philippines government has also started integrating media and information literacy as a core subject in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools in 2023.

Radhiyya Indra

The Jakarta Post

Asia News Network