Lecturer from Thammasat University initiated the “Fake News Fighter project, a fact-checking mechanism in television newsrooms and digital media”

Fake News Fighter Project: Building a network to create a body of knowledge and a mechanism for solving fake news problems, initiated by Asst. Prof. Dr. Wilaiwan Chongwilaikasem, Mr. Peeraphon Anutarasoth and Mr. Natharawut Muangsuk. It is a collaborative project between the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University and the Sure and Share Center, MCOT Thai News Agency under the strategy of the Thai Media Fund with the aims to be a mechanism to combat fake news along with building and expanding the network.

The inspiration for this project started with the Fake News situation in Thailand that came in the form of news visible within various media, not only social media, but in the professional media such as newspapers, radio and television, many fake news are unwittingly presented. With technology that makes fake news harder to detect and the urgency of presenting the news yet at the same time intending to present fake news for marketing or political purposes that affects not only the individual but the overall picture of society. Therefore, this project was brought to the attention of the target group of communication students who will be media producers’ in the future through installation of knowledge mechanisms to detect fake news under the concept of fact-checking with the role of fact checker that foreign news agencies attach great importance to. This is considered a new body of knowledge in the teaching of journalism in which fake news is a social issue in the world today. It is used as a tool for both positive and negative outcomes for fake news victims, but it generates a huge negative impact on society. Fake news is therefore something that every one of all ages should have the knowledge and skills to detect and inquire into, thus enabling the initiation of this project.