Fact Checking (With CONNIE SISON)

Case Study: Fake Grocery Raffle Scam
📌 A Facebook page impersonating a popular supermarket chain teased a "customer gift bag" giveaway for its 24th anniversary, receiving over 1,500 comments.
🛑 The giveaway was confirmed as fake by the real supermarket chain's official account.
🖼️ The grocery packs shown in the misleading photo were legitimate but were taken in Indonesia during the pandemic, not in the Philippines.

Fact-Checking Process Defined
📝 Fact-checking is defined as the process of determining the truthfulness of information encountered through reading, watching, or hearing, applicable to social media posts as well as statements by public figures.
🧠 Opinions, thoughts, guesses, and presumptions are typically not fact-checkable, but statements containing verifiable information are.

Three Steps for Fact-Checking Information
1️⃣ Step 1: Verify if the post is fact-checkable. Ensure the content involves verifiable information rather than subjective opinions.
2️⃣ Step 2: Verify the Information. Scrutinize sources and triangulate by searching for other sources that corroborate the claim; look for discrepancies in follower counts or links (e.g., a fake PGH page had 12 likes vs. the real one with 131,000 likes).
3️⃣ Step 3: Present the correct information. Clearly state the claim is false or fake upfront, provide context (who, where, when), use clear language, and include links to detailed sources.

Examples of Fact-Checking in Practice
👨‍⚕️ A viral claim about a milk formula called Glufarelin curing diabetes, featuring a manipulated quote card with logos from PGH and ABS-CBN News, was debunked by checking the source account's low engagement and by official denials; furthermore, the product was not FDA-approved.
🧥 A viral photo of Pope Francis wearing a puffer coat was determined to be AI-generated, as noted by the disclaimer on the original Twitter source.
🐊 A report of a large crocodile caught in Marikina River, initially reported by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), was clarified in a follow-up report as a promotional stunt for the TV series *Lolong*.
🗣️ A quote attributed to former President Duterte about eating a human was deemed True, as he said it in 2016 when discussing violent extremists like ISIS.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Always fact-check information before liking or sharing to prevent falling victim to scams or spreading falsehoods, especially given the prevalence of fake news on social media.
➡️ When verifying, pay attention to source credibility indicators such as follower/like counts and official website links; a genuine profile often has significantly higher engagement than an impersonator.
➡️ In crafting a fact-check correction, prominently label the claim as “False” or “Fake” to immediately warn audiences who only read headlines.
➡️ Ensure fact-checks provide full context by detailing the origin (who, where, when) and providing accessible links for readers seeking deeper verification.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Feb 21, 2026, 06:14 UTC