Sen. Leila M. de Lima yesterday backed the ongoing media campaign against fake news and false memes on social media as she cried foul over the circulating news that she bought a $6-million mansion in New York City.
De Lima said “manufactured” news on the social media, which are aimed at deliberately maligning and humiliating individuals, must be stopped.
“A few days ago, I learned about the news that I bought a $6-million mansion in New York, USA. A cursory check at the address of the alleged property, it turned out it was a popular landmark in New York, the Barlow-Pell Mansion Museum.
This latest fake news is just one of the many manufactured news and fabricated lies being maliciously peddled around to malign and discredit me. Sadly, truth has become the first casualty,” De Lima said in a statement.
She said hackers, fanatics, and spammers have been abusing the freedom of the Internet to foment lies and hatred at the detriment of rational discourse.
“Like many well-respected individuals such as former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Benigno S. Aquino III, and actress Agot Isidro, among others, I too have always been the object of malicious misinformation campaign designed to tarnish my good name and reputation,” she said. (Charissa M. Luci)