Anatomy of a Hoax

It all started Monday lunch when I got this text :

BREAKING NEWS :Kumandr Arcing-Diro of J.I. announced 3AM Dec. 8 over DZMM dat 2day Dec.8, 2008 at exactly 2pm they wil hav a mass bOmbing on SM malls one inluzOn, invisays nd n mindanao. Pls. Avoid ds places 2day nd tel your ones! txt from Maj Nogra, security manager of SM Davao.

I tried to reproduce it character for character. I told my source that this probably has no basis and is likely a hoax. I got no answer nor did I get any real justification when I asked in person. So it got me thinking and you know thinking is a dangerous thing for me. What goes into this mass hysteria ? Approximately four months after I moved to Manila in 1999 , our Pinoy culture killed the Pope. What happened was a text circulated that the Pope died and people here rather than check just kept spreading it. This is something that should be documented somewhere to show future generations that we should improve on our levels of comprehension and tact. Because it is true that people that do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Google only showed one result documenting this and there really should be more. Because the typical Pinoy is probably not ashamed of this and will probably just giggle at the thought. We should know and learn from our mistakes.

That was almost nine years ago and how far have we come? About .000001 cm based on that text I got Monday. A quick Google search shows no current results when you plug in the details. DZMM made no such announcement. Google " Nogra SM Davao " and you find out that he is indeed an SM Davao employee but Customer Relations Manager not Security Manager

It's common sense to validate anything you are given before you pass it on because it will reflect on you. It reflects on how much you value what you say and your credibility. Do you process what is given or can you be used as a conduit of BS. I thought we learned that as kids playing the whispering/ telephone game.

The moment you are reduced to inciting false fear like this the terrorists have won. They are more credible than you are. We can be all so high tech with iphones and blackberries but with all this immediacy provided by the technology comes a responsibility to use it wisely. Just because we can act on something does not mean we should.

Let me tell you about an incident two years ago. 1) the news item that resulted 2) a reproduction of the email sent in Tagalog 3) my yahoo 360 blog entry at the time:

http://www.abc.com.ph/forums/viewthread.php?tid=1396

Metro safe, PNP chief assures amid bomb rumors

Alert level likely to be lowered
By Thea Alberto
INQ7.net
Last updated 07:33pm (Mla time) 10/18/2006

THE chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) gave assurances Metro Manila remained safe as he dismissed a rumor spreading through cellular phone text messages of an imminent bomb attack on one of the metropolis� largest malls.

"The situation in Metro Manila is peaceful. I would say we are on top of the situation. On (the text messages), I would say this would be disinformation" Director General Oscar Calderon said.

The message claims the supposed October 21 attack on the mall, located along EDSA, was disclosed by an Abu Sayyaf member arrested by authorities early last week.

Police have denied the reported capture.

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http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275632

Ate,

Wag muna kayo punta megamall..naaalala mo pa ba si janet na pinsan ni jude? pulis sya na naka-assign sa crame ngayon. Tumawag sya sakin kanina to inform me na, may nahuli daw silang abusayyaf ngayon and wala yata silang balak i-news sa tv baka matiktikan ng iba pang abusayyaf.

Nag-surrender daw sa kanila ito tapos sinabi nya lahat ng plano nila. Sa oct 21 daw pasasabugin ng abusayyaf ang megamall. Kaya ngayon red alert daw sila.

Pakisabi na lang te sa lahat jan. thanks..

Regards,

Ems",)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Xxxxx X. Xxxx

Accounts Receivable Staff

Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx Xxx.

3rd Flr Xxxxxxx Building Xxxxxx Avenue Makati City Tel# XXX-XXXX /

Mobile# XXXXXXXXXX

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Some people are truly doorknobs (Oct 21 2006 by me in Yahoo 360)

This woman is my co worker. The type who forwards anything via email forwarded to her. The type who does not mind being seen as self absorbed . Constantly displays her own image on her monitor at work. Wonder how she gets any work done. Anyway its my understanding that she contributed to that city wide bomb scare (read in the link) and managed to get Police and Media Outlets interested enough in our office to alarm us. They even took a collection at work to send her home very far away from interested parties. I really don't understand working adults who believe everything in this day and age that any idiot can send an email or create a text. Some sort of Cyber crime unit figured out our co worker was the one who spread that possibility of a threat from her office email, complete with name, office number and cel number. Look at the bright side. It got me back on the 360.

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What happened here is my office mate reacted to gossip. She honestly believed there was a threat and at some point she honestly believed that with her cel phone and her company email she could do more good than the Philippine National Police and SM security combined. Vanity took over. Vanity is no substitute for methodical thinking. That's why in my office Friendster is website of choice for the vain and self absorbed. Multiply for those with something to say. And like I said in the yahoo 360 entry from two years ago, there are those in my office who put pictures of themselves on their computer screen and somehow manage to stare at it frequently despite the fact they have work to do.

There are some who like to rationalize that spreading the word (of possible terror attacks) will make any terrorists think twice about doing it. Reminds me of the story of the kid dancing in a busy street corner with his shorts on his head. When asked why , his reply was "I'm keeping the elephants away. " When told that there are no elephants for miles , his reply " See? It's working"

Think about what goes into this. Somebody somewhere conceived in their head: a) The Pope is dead or b) a bomb will go off in SM on Saturday run for your lives. Fundamental problem #1 Somebody finds this funny or amusing. Fundamental problem #2) Ultra naive people forward this as if the Gospel Truth. Caring does not excuse naivete and simply getting your facts straight.

In case you are wondering why I am so frank here, it's because to paraphrase Janis Joplin, Freedom's just another word for no one is really reading.

I am sure you heard the question is it ethical to yell fire in a crowded movie house? Panic will cause a stampede that can hurt and kill regardless whether the threat is real or not. Discretion is what's important and as Billy Joel says is hardly ever heard and mostly what I need from you. Basis?? Doesn't that concept count for anything? My opinion is that I am an opinionated guy. But what I try to give you is a basis for what I say. A video, a link to a legit website. I won't say the moon is made of Gouda Cheese or Keanu Reeves is heterosexual unless I give you some basis.

Oh yeah, the person who gave me the text last Monday , bought the whole Obama PR crusade hook line and sinker. May as well be the Manila campaign manager for Change You Can Believe In. If you believe that a badly composed text will result in malls being bombed around the country you will believe in a sweet talking huckster with no track track record in terms of leadership or decision making as a credible Commander in Chief.

Ed

http://www.disini.ph/bworld05042000.html

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2007/08/07/life/sm.davao.employees.attend.seminar.on.caring.for.pwds.html (Nogra is SM Davao employee but Customer Relations Manager)