By Antonio Luis Carreon and John Vincent Cruz

Far Eastern University Communication Society (FEU CommSoc) will be launching the 'E-LEKSYON: Bantay—Social Media sa Halalan 2022' on Saturday, September 11.

With only nine months remaining before the national elections, CommSoc aims to increase its efforts in promoting media and digital literacy in the form of a webinar.

In an interview with the FEU Advocate, CommSoc President Neil Juliano shared that the project’s focus is to increase the political involvement of FEU Communication students and promote youth electoral participation and engagement.

"E-Leksyon would reinforce our existing voter's education programs at the academic organizational level," Juliano said, also adding that the organization advocates for media literacy among communication students. 

In addition, the organization hopes that this will encourage students from other institutes to register and be involved in the election. 

Based on the TAMang Boto survey, the Institute of Arts and Sciences (IAS) has the highest number of registered voters, with 47%,  compared to other institutes.

With the upcoming election, propaganda comes in the form of dubious news shared by various people with strong political affiliations on social media. In a technologically driven society, media is accessible with just a click of a button, posing several risks about the authenticity of the information available online.

On average, Filipinos spend around 10 hours and two minutes on the Internet, making this a perfect opportunity for online trolls to disseminate malicious information and create chaos on social media. 

Notably, these online trolls propagate during the election and campaign period, where candidates create political tension resulting in numerous clashes and debates. 

With this, the webinar will tackle the issues of disinformation, political advertisements, data privacy, hate speech, and trolling—all of which are looming problems given the vicious spread of misinformation and fake news. 

Further, the event will feature Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Risa Hontiveros as keynote speakers.

Other guests include: Ardent Communications President Ana Ruby Pista, Associate Professor Joeven Castro, and FEUCSO Treasurer Roberto Reynoso II. While the President of FEU Faculty Association Inc., Professor Karen Lee Panela, will be the moderator.

The program will also hold a panel discussion for the guests to voice their fair share of insights. In addition, this event will serve as an avenue for participants to ask their questions.

Juliano hopes that the discussion will help the youth realize their power to change society, sharing similar sentiments with the organization's mantra, “May alam, may pakialam.”

The webinar will start at 3:00 PM via Zoom and Facebook Live, in partnership with the following organizations: FEU Central Student Organization, FEU Political Science Society, IAS Paragon, FEU Advocate, University of the East – Association of Broadcasting Students, FEUHS Student Government, and DLSU-D Communication and Media Society.

(Photo courtesy of FEU Communication Society)