Ex-press secretary Angeles says fake news can be 'time-bound', cites Galileo


At a glance

  • Social media personality and former press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles has a hard time defining what "fake news" is.

  • This, as she believed that certain information that could be considered fake now might eventually become true in the future.


Social media personality and former press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles has a hard time defining what "fake news" is. 

This, as she believed that certain information that could be considered fake now might eventually become true in the future.

During the House tri-committee (tri-comm) hearing on disinformation Friday, March 21, Cruz-Angeles argued that fake news could be "time-bound."

She cited as example the Goliath heliocentrism or Galileo Galilei's belief that the Sun was the center of the universe.

Galileo had for the longest time faced opposition from the Church for this doctrine. But hundreds of years later, he was proven correct.

"Minsan po ang tinatawag na fake news ay time-bound: posibleng totoo ngayon, bukas 'di na totoo (Sometimes, fake news is time-bound. A news could be true now; but not tomorrow)," she said.

"Katulad po ng heliocentric vs. geocentric solar system, naparusahan po si Galileo. Pero 600 years later, nag-apologze ang simbahan dahil toto pala saya (Just like the heliocentric vs geocentric solar system, Galileo was punished for that. But 600 years later, the Church apologized to him because he was eventually proven to be true)," she added.

Cruz-Angeles called for a "working definition" of so-called fake news, so that those who were tagged as purveyors of such would know their boundaries, and if they were to be penalized.

"For instance, is clickbait fake news?" she asked.

"What about sarcasm, sir? Kasama po ba sya sa fake news. Pano po 'yung jokes, fake news din po ba 'yun? Gusto ko lang malaman apra malaman ko kung paparusahan nyo po kmi eh alam namin kung ano 'yung ginawa naming mali (What about sarcasm, is it fake news? How about jokes? We want to know so we know that if you penalize us, we know where we're wrong)," she added.

The former Palace official made the remark as congressmen grilled social media personalities for unverified claims they make online and asked them about their thoughts on the so-called fake news.

Cruz-Angeles acknowledged that while the government was trying to point out the wrong, "We don't know yet how we are going to define the wrong."

"And it's a basic tenet sa ating saligang batas na bahagi po bago mag gawa ng regulasyon ay may notice tayo kung ano yung masama (It's a basic tenet in our law that before we come up with a regulation, we should have a notice about what is wrong)," she said.