Philippines’ Marawi Siege Offers Lessons on Battling Disinformation and Propaganda
When the Philippines launched the biggest military assault since World War II against Islamic State-linked extremists who seized the southern Philippine city, journalist Carmela Fonbuena, then working for Rappler, dropped into the centre of the action to cover the toll on ordinary citizens.
As the war dragged on for months, she found a parallel disinformation war playing out especially on social media, spreading inaccurate information about government operations or casualties — sowing fear, confusion, or worse, violence. She said false news can spread like wildfire because people “are so desperate for any information.”
“If we don’t fact-check information that’s spreading on the ground, that’s what people will believe if no one corrects it,” she told the FCC in a forum about her latest book Marawi Siege: Stories From the Front Lines.
“That to me highlights [journalists’] very important role in delivering important information during a crisis, whether it’s the Marawi siege or the coronavirus pandemic,” she said in a discussion moderated by FCC Correspondent Governor Kristine Servando.
And when reporters become targets of online harassment by individuals who disagree with facts on the ground, Fonbuena says it is important to build an emotional support network around oneself — and to avoid trolls. “I would rather spend time writing stories that more people will read than engage with a single individual who won’t be convinced,” she said.
View the rest of the video below, where she talked about lessons on how extremism spreads, war’s invisible toll on mental health, and the role of women in the front lines. Her book Marawi Siege can be ordered from [email protected] and shipped internationally.
Governments, journalists share responsibility for combating vaccine misinformation
FCC First Vice President Eric Wishart left) and First Draft APAC Bureau Editor Esther Chan (right)
Governments and journalists both have a role to play in combating the spread of COVID-19 vaccine-related misinformation, First Draft APAC Bureau Editor Esther Chan said In a virtual workshop hosted by the FCC, Hong Kong. With vaccination campaigns picking up speed around the world, Chan said that vaccination campaigns and misinformation go hand in hand. “With vaccine rollout, misinformation also starts to proliferate online, and it can be because of a number of reasons: limited data about the vaccines, lack of confidence in its efficacy or even a lack of trust in the government,” she said. Chan began her presentation with a real-world example of a conspiracy theory that recently went viral in Hong Kong — that Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other government ministers did not in fact receive the Sinovac vaccine as they said, but rather the jab produced by Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca. The basis for this rumour rested on the fact that the syringe used to administer the vaccine to Lam was longer and thinner than those that had been depicted in previous news coverage of the Sinovac jab. “Even though this claim was unproven, it quickly went viral online,” Chan said. The Hong Kong government later confirmed that Lam and other officials had received the Sinovac vaccine, while pointing out that neither the Pfizer-BioNTech nor AstraZeneca jabs had arrived in the city yet. An opinion poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong at the end of January showed that less than a third of the city’s residents trusted the Sinovac vaccine. In December, Lam had responded to speculation over the reasons for her government’s decision to buy 7.5 million doses of Sinovac by saying “some people with ulterior motives were spreading malicious rumours and publishing false information that stigmatises and politicises the vaccine purchase”. Attacking critics of the government’s vaccine policy was not the most constructive approach, Chan said in the workshop moderated by FCC First Vice President Eric Wishart. “How Carrie Lam described people who were critical of the Sinovac vaccine, that’s really not helpful because there’s already maybe an issue of trust in the Hong Kong government,” she said. “It should really be an objective discussion instead of mixing politics in, so I feel like the government messaging is not really helping with the vaccine hesitancy in Hong Kong.” Similarly, she shared advice for journalists who are tasked with covering vaccine rollouts and misinformation. “When you notice something that is shaping how people think about an important issue like public health, you probably should address it but in a really careful way,” Chan said. “Back it up with a lot of important scientific data that people really should know. Lead them from focusing on a rumour back to the facts.” The workshop also focused on social media’s role in spreading vaccine misinformation, which commonly follows narratives with six different themes. While Facebook and Twitter are often considered the primary platforms for spreading misinformation, Chan explained that Instagram also plays a significant role and is often overlooked because it’s harder to search for specific content on the visual-driven platform. For journalists and anyone else seeking resources about COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, Chan recommended using First Draft as an educational tool. The organisation offers an online Vaccine Insights Hub where you can sign up to watch 30-minute workshops — including a special recap session on Friday, March 5 — and receive a weekly newsletter. First Draft also offers an extensive free library of training materials to support journalists and members of the public in understanding and managing all types of disinformation. Watch the full workshop below:
Bauhinia Party Chairman Li Shan: “If Hong Kong is doing well, then Beijing has no reason to intervene”
FCC President Keith Richburg and Bauhinia Party chairman Li Shan.
In his first public remarks since the formation of the Bauhinia Party in March 2020, party chairman Li Shan said he wants the new political party to bridge Hong Kong’s blue-yellow divide to solve the city’s pressing social problems, though he seeks no role as an elected official.
“Our colour is patriotism,” said Li, highlighting the party’s focus on unity.
Speaking from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong in a conversation with club president Keith Richburg, Li also said he is not a member of the Communist Party and he was not prodded by Beijing to start a new pro-China party. He went on to defend the central government’s increasingly interventionist role in Hong Kong’s affairs, comparing the city to a poorly performing business subsidiary.
“If Hong Kong is doing well, then Beijing has no reason to intervene,” said Li.
In an opening statement outlining the Bauhinia Party’s purpose and vision for the future of Hong Kong, Li painted a picture of a city that has lost its former greatness and entered dark times due to income inequality, a shortage of affordable housing and a lack of opportunity for many people. He said that these fundamental problems have led to widespread despair and anger, even as he called for unity to confront the city’s systemic problems.
“If we work together, Hong Kong can, and will, become a shining paragon of modern society once again,” said Li.
Born in a poor village in Sichuan before going on to become a successful banker, Li said he was naive and uneducated about Hong Kong politics until recently, and that his involvement in forming a new political party stemmed from his love of the city and, more pertinently, concern about its future.
A member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Li will soon be attending the annual session in Beijing, where he said he will be putting forth new proposals to address Hong Kong’s affordable housing crisis.
Li and his fellow party members have also proposed changes to the Legislative Council, including turning it into a bicameral body with a lower house of directly elected members and an upper house composed of members appointed by the Chief Executive. Asked to describe LegCo’s relationship to the Chief Executive, he said, “Of course there is a check and a balance.”
Though Li said he currently has no plans to run for LegCo or Chief Executive, he said the Bauhinia Party will focus its efforts on the selection of the city’s top-ranking official. “I think she most certainly can do a better job,” Li said in regards to Carrie Lam’s performance. Earlier, in his opening statement, he had asked, “Where are the strong leaders we need to tackle Hong Kong’s challenges? Who can restore hope?”
Patriotism has been a hotly discussed topic in Hong Kong recently, and Li agreed with the central government’s assertion that the city should be governed by patriots. In spite of the increasingly direct role Beijing has taken in Hong Kong affairs, Li said he had no knowledge of attempts to engineer changes to the city’s political system.
“I do believe Beijing will welcome all sorts of talents who love this city and love China,” said Li. “I don’t think they have narrowly defined criteria.”
Legendary Investigative Journalist Bob Woodward on the Trump Presidency
Keith Richburg (left) and Bob Woodward (right)
During Donald Trump’s tumultuous presidency, legendary investigative journalist and author Bob Woodward produced two best-selling books that pulled back the curtain on the often chaotic inner workings of the administration. In Fear, Woodward revealed how aides would try to circumvent Trump’s impulsive decisions, including stealing draft orders from the president’s desk in what Woodward called “an administrative coup d’etat.” In his follow-up book Rage, Woodward uncovered how the president knew early on about the deadly threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic but chose to publicly downplay it.
The FCC invited Woodward to discuss his reporting process, the final days of the Trump presidency and much more.
Watch the full discussion:
Evan Osnos on President Joe Biden, the 2020 Election and American Democracy
Eric Wishart (left) and Evan Osnos (right)
If anyone knows President Joe Biden well, it’s Evan Osnos. A staff writer at The New Yorker, Osnos is the author of Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now, which was released in October 2020.
The FCC invited Osnos to participate in a virtual book talk to discuss his biography, which draws on lengthy interviews with Biden and conversations with more than a hundred others, including President Barack Obama, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and a range of advisers, opponents and Biden family members to examine how Biden overcame personal tragedy to become the 46th president of the United States.
Watch the full discussion here:
What Are the Implications of the Military Coup in Myanmar?
Clockwise from top left: Shibani Mahtani, Manny Maung, Wai Wai Nu, Ali Fowle
In a pre-dawn operation on February 1, Myanmar’s military moved to take control of the government, detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected officials in a coup. The scale of the detentions has grown to more than 400 people as the military tries to keep a lid on mass protests and a growing civil disobedience movement aimed at undermining their illegitimate hold on power. In a country already scarred by memories of brutal crackdowns in 1988 and 2007, soldiers and police are using increasing force against protesters to cement the junta’s grip on power.
Where does Myanmar go from here, and what does a return to military rule mean for its myriad of ethnic minorities, including Rohingya Muslims inside and outside the country? The FCC hosted a discussion on this topic with Ai Fowle, Manny Maung and Wai Wai Nu.
Watch the full event:
Panel: Freedom of Speech Should Be Limited in Some Circumstances
Clockwise from top left: FCC First Vice President Eric Wishart, Alejandro Reyes, Craig Silverman, Maria Ressa
Freedom of expression has its limits when it comes to spreading falsehoods and promoting real-world violence, a panel of experts including Maria Ressa, Craig Silverman and Alejandro Reyes said on Tuesday night. Participating in a virtual discussion which was moderated by FCC First Vice President Eric Wishart, the panelists agreed that social media platforms have the right to ban users based on their online activity.
“It is definitely not an infringement on freedom of speech,” said Ressa, the CEO and president of Rappler.com. “We have to think about this as, ‘Here’s the public sphere and what are the guidelines?’ so that you can exchange ideas and actually talk instead of having influence operations or hate, disinformation and conspiracy theories thrown at you.”
“There’s no question that they should have the ability to remove people from their platforms, they should have policies” said Silverman, the media editor of BuzzFeed News and author of the Verification Handbook. “But at the same time, are they enforcing these things evenly, and are they even able to enforce them?”
He explained that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have a spotty track record when it comes to policy enforcement, which can lead to violent events like the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Reyes, a visiting associate professor at the Asia Global Institute, agreed that platforms have the right to remove users as they see fit but raised concerns about governments pressuring social media companies to take these steps.
“Where we should be concerned is really the kind of situation that Maria faces in the Philippines, where you have a constitutional authoritarian system where ambiguity reigns and there’s weaponisation of laws and social media to silence people who want to speak truth to power,” he said.
Given that so-called fake news laws and tech companies’ internal policies have failed to control the rise of disinformation, extremism and violence, the panelists agreed that new solutions to these problems are urgently needed.
“For me the first step is: please stop the virus of lies that come into our information ecosystem,” said Ressa, “and that’s got to be done through legislation.”
With research showing that lies tinted with anger and hate tend to spread faster than facts, she argued that social media platforms can be viewed as inherently biased against facts and honest journalism.
Silverman advocated for specific legislative actions from democratic governments. “I think legislating around transparency and behavioural manipulation and setting some guardrails for those things may actually be doable,” he said.
Similarly, Reyes highlighted the importance of governments reviewing how social media platforms profit from spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories.
Still, even if democratic governments rise to the challenge of enacting legislation that makes social media platforms more accountable, that may not be enough to solve the complex problems facing society.
Instead, governments around the world need to think about how to prepare their citizens to navigate an increasingly chaotic information environment and train them to identify reliable information sources.
“That is a long-term project but we need to be investing in it now and testing ways of teaching news literacy,” said Silverman. “That would certainly reduce the amount and spread of false and misleading information.”
Given the abundance of information sources and the ease of spreading it via social networks, Silverman argued that personal responsibility is at an all-time high.
“That is a big thing everyone needs to understand: your attention is valuable and the way you spend it, particularly on these platforms, helps to determine what spreads and what doesn’t, so we all have a role.”
Watch the full discussion:
2020 in Review: Looking Back at Our Guest Speaker Events
In nearly every regard, 2020 was a rather strange and unusual year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and various rounds of government restrictions, one of the biggest changes at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong was a significant decrease in the number of club lunches featuring guest speakers we were able to host compared to previous years. (And the introduction of Zoom events!)
Still, when it was safe to do so (and when government restrictions allowed for it), the FCC managed to welcome a variety of notable guests throughout the year. Here’s a look back at the lineup of speakers we hosted in 2020.
January 9: Professor Niall Ferguson
We kicked off the year by hosting Professor Niall Ferguson, an accomplished author, historian and public intellectual, to discuss a wide variety of topics. Predictions he made included the likelihood of a naval conflict between China and the United States, and that Boris Johnson will still be Britain’s prime minister in 2025.
January 14: District Council Elections Panel
In the aftermath of Hong Kong’s November 2019 district council elections, we invited Lo Kin-hei, Derek Yuen and Christine Fong to discuss the city’s political future. The three panelists agreed that Hongkongers would “come out and strike again” to show their dissatisfaction with the government.
January 21: Nick Frisch
The life and art of Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese dissident and Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, was the subject of Nick Frisch’s talk at the FCC. Frisch first interviewed Liu when he was writing for The New Yorker.
January 22: Policing Hong Kong’s Police Panel
In response to widespread dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong Police Force, we invited Dr. Lawrence Ho, Clement Lai and Doriane Lau to discuss how public trust could be rebuilt. The panelists agreed that significant changes needed to be made to policing in Hong Kong.
February 20: Rebuilding Hong Kong Panel
Rebuilding Hong Kong in the aftermath of the protests was the subject of a panel discussion featuring Anson Chan and Dr. Priscilla Leung. The need for a new Chief Executive as well as an independent inquiry into the protests were both proposed as ways to help the city move forward.
February 26: COVID-19 Panel
Our first COVID-focused event of the year was a panel discussion featuring Professor Keiji Fukuda, Dr. Arisina Ma, Elizabeth Cheung and Odile Thiang. The panelists discussed the mental and physical challenges facing Hong Kong in the early months of the pandemic.
March 18: Matthew Marsh
With the motor racing season delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, we welcomed Formula 1 analyst and Fox Sports Asia presenter Matthew Marsh to the club. The former professional racing driver gave insights into the personalities of some of the world’s top Formula One drivers and shared anecdotes from the press pit.
July 7: National Security Law/Press Freedom Panel
Following a hiatus of several months, we resumed in-person events with this panel discussion of the National Security Law’s effects on Hong Kong journalists, held one week after the law was enacted in Beijing. Panelists Sharron Fast, Antony Dapiran, Keith B. Richburg agreed that journalists needed to be more serious about protecting sources and information given the new law.
July 14: Hong Kong Economy Panel
As the pandemic took its toll on local businesses, we invited business owners Syed Asim Hussain and Douglas Young to speak alongside economist Alicia García Herrero about the city’s economic prospects. The panelists agreed that businesses should be proactive and seize the opportunities brought about by the pandemic.
November 12: Antony Dapiran
After another hiatus from in-person events, the author of City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong, Antony Dapiran joined us to discuss the legacy of the 2019 protests. Dapiran also talked about the weakening of the Legislative Council and the deleterious effects of the National Security Law on the rule of law in Hong Kong.
November 19: Jake van der Kamp
Veteran financial columnist Jake van der Kamp, author of The Rise and Fall of the Hang Seng Index, joined us to share his philosophy on investing and talk about his time covering the markets. His main takeaway? Trust yourself, not investment advisers.
December 3: Weijian Shan
PAG CEO and chairman Weijian Shan spoke about his recently published book Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank. He also discussed how private equity has transformed Asian economies in the past two decades.
2020 in Review: The Year in FCC Zoom Events
Looking back on 2020, it was a year that posed numerous challenges for The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong, not least of which was a limited ability to host in-person events. But, like the rest of the world, we adapted to the new normal and found a way to get on with things.
At the FCC, that meant taking our events virtual by turning to Zoom as a way to host guest speakers and panelists including Noam Chomsky, Jiayang Fan, Maria Ressa, John Bolton, Garry Kasparov and many others. While Zoom allowed us to continue planning speaker events in times when social distancing measures prevented them from taking place at the club, it also allowed us to transcend time zones and welcome speakers located all over the world. As a result, you can expect to see plenty more Zoom events happening in 2021.
But first, here’s a look back at the lineup of notable speakers we hosted on Zoom in 2020.
April 29: Ben Cowling
Our first Zoom event of the year featured Professor Ben Cowling, who joined us to discuss Hong Kong’s battle with COVID-19.
May 6: Press Freedom Panel
The pandemic and its effects on press freedom was the focus of this panel discussion featuring Maria Ressa, Hélène Franchineau and Mohammed Hanif.
May 20: The Rt. Hon Lord Patten of Barnes CH
Hong Kong’s last governor joined us to discuss the city’s future in the midst of sweeping changes and increased intervention from the Chinese government.
June 11: Clifford Stott
Professor Clifford Stott, a protest policing expert, explained why he resigned from an international panel appointed by Hong Kong’s police complaints body to investigate the policing of last year’s protests.
June 18: George Floyd Protests Panel
As the George Floyd protests swept across the United States, we invited Amelia Brace and Joel Simon to discuss the threats facing journalists covering the movement.
July 9: Maria Ressa and Caoilfhionn Gallagher
The Rappler CEO and press freedom advocate spoke alongside her international human rights lawyer about Ressa’s conviction in the Philippines on cyber libel charges.
July 15: John Bolton
The day after President Trump signed an executive order ending Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said that Hong Kong still enjoyed broad support in the U.S. even as the city’s freedoms were being eroded.
July 20: Jeffrey Sachs
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, an economist and author, warned that improving relations between the U.S. and China was crucial for maintaining global stability in the coming years.
July 30: COVID-19 Infodemic Panel
The rise of disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic was the focus of this panel discussion featuring Kristin Urquiza, Claire Wardel and Alice Budisatrijo.
August 4: Suzanne Nossel
The CEO of PEN America, a nonprofit organisation which defends free expression, spoke about how democracy and freedom are in decline around the world.
August 7: Noam Chomsky
Renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky spoke about the potentially disastrous consequences of relations between the U.S. and China further deteriorating.
August 10: Kishore Mahbubani
The author and Asia scholar said it would be a “huge mistake” for China to eradicate Hong Kong’s unique characteristics.
August 12: Sino-American Relations Panel
Relations between the U.S. and China was the topic of this panel discussion featuring Lingling Wei, Mary E. Gallagher and Bonnie Glaser, who agreed that a Biden presidency could improve the situation.
The former top U.S. military official claimed that Taiwan’s political status was the greatest threat to the already tense relationship between China and the U.S.
September 8: Brian Stetler
The host of CNN’s Reliable Sources warned that Fox News could cause “enormous damage” on election night in the United States.
The author of a biography of Indonesian president Joko Widodo said that Widodo’s “lack of leadership” had caused Indonesia’s struggle with containing COVID-19.
October 5: China & Hollywood Panel
China’s influence on Hollywood was discussed by panelists James Tager, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Rebecca Davis, who said that the greed of America’s film industry was leading to increased self-censorship in a bid to reach Chinese audiences.
October 7: Rana Mitter
The author and China scholar spoke at length about how “wolf warrior” diplomacy has hurt the PRC’s global reputation.
Weeks before the U.S. presidential elections, panelists Craig Silverman, Elyse Samuels and Thomas Kent agreed that election-related disinformation had reached an all-time high.
October 20: Jiayang Fan
A staff writer at The New Yorker, Jiayang Fan spoke to us about her blockbuster cover story “How My Mother and I Became Chinese Propaganda.”
October 22: The Future of COVID-19 Panel (Dr. Sarah Borwein, Prof. Ivan Hung, Prof. John Nicholls)
With winter on the horizon, we invited Dr. Sarah Borwein, Professor Ivan Hung and Professor John Nicholls to share their predictions for the future of the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong and around the world.
November 20: The Biden Administration & China Panel
Discussing the upcoming Biden administration’s approach to China, panelists Bonnie Glaser and Tom Orlik said it would be characterised by competition and cooperation.
November 23: Mara Hvistendahl
The investigative reporter discussed her second book, The Scientist and the Spy, which recounts the story of a Chinese-born scientist who was caught trying to steal genetically modified corn seeds from a field in Iowa.
2020 in Review: Our Most Popular Guest Speakers on YouTube
Between in-person events at the club and virtual events on Zoom, we hosted dozens of guest speakers in 2020. In case you didn’t already know, we post videos of all guest speaker events on the FCC HK YouTube channel, which allows us to reach audiences far beyond Hong Kong and our members roster.
Unsurprisingly, some of our events have gained a lot of traction on YouTube, and these are the most popular ones from 2020.
