In a world where truth is increasingly contested terrain, the work of those who map disinformation's architecture carries unusual weight. Gaby Baizas, a digital forensics researcher at Rappler whose investigations have prompted tech platforms to remove hundreds of fake accounts and harmful videos, has been awarded the United Kingdom's Chevening Scholarship — one of 23 Filipinos chosen from a record 3,500 applicants — to pursue a master's degree in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. Her selection reflects a broader recognition that the fight for an informed public requi
Rappler forensics researcher Gaby Baizas awarded UK Chevening Scholarship
Her research prompted removal of hundreds of fake accounts
Mark
What exactly does a digital forensics researcher do? It sounds technical, but Baizas writes stories.
Mimi
She analyzes data patterns to identify coordinated inauthentic behavior—fake accounts, networks spreading the same false claims, that kind of thing. Then she reports on what she finds. The reporting is what prompts the platforms to act.
Luke
Right, but the source says her work "prompted" removals. That's one way to read it. It could also mean the platforms reviewed her findings and decided independently. We don't know the causal chain.
Mimi
Fair. But the fact that hundreds of accounts were removed and over a hundred videos taken down after her research was published suggests her work was credible enough that the platforms took it seriously.
Mark
Why does the Chevening Scholarship matter for someone already doing this work at Rappler?
Mimi
A master's degree in Media and Communications with a Data and Society focus gives her formal training in the theory behind what she's observing. Right now she's doing applied research. The degree would let her understand the broader frameworks—how technology shapes society, how information systems work, the history of these problems.
Luke
The source doesn't actually say what she plans to do after the degree. We're assuming it deepens her journalism, but she could go anywhere.
Mark
True. But Rappler has a track record—Gloria, Vitug, Buan all went through Chevening and stayed in journalism.
Mimi
That's the pattern, yes. But Luke's right that we're inferring intention.
Mark
How competitive is this scholarship?
Luke
Twenty-three Filipinos selected from 3,500 applications. That's less than 1 percent. Record applications this year, so it's getting harder.
Mimi
It's one of the most prestigious scholarships available to Filipinos. Being selected puts her in a very small group.
Mark
And she's the first from Rappler's forensics team to get it?
Mimi
As far as the source tells us, yes. The other Rappler scholars came from the newsroom more broadly—editors, reporters. Baizas is the first from the forensics unit specifically.
The Pulse
- Disinformation continues to reshape public discourse at scale, and the researchers tracking it operate in a space where evidence must be both technically sound and narratively compelling enough to move institutions to act.
- Baizas's forensic work at Rappler has already crossed the threshold from observation into consequence — her findings have led platforms to remove hundreds of fake accounts and over a hundred harmful videos.
- Chosen from a record 3,500 Filipino applicants, her Chevening award signals that international institutions are investing in precisely this kind of technically literate, public-interest journalism.
- At LSE, she will study Data and Society — a field that maps directly onto the forensic and analytical work she has been doing, offering her deeper theoretical grounding and a global network of peers.
- Rappler's recurring presence in Chevening cohorts — with multiple editors and reporters having received the award — points to a newsroom culture that consistently produces scholars as well as journalists.
In a world where truth is increasingly contested terrain, the work of those who map disinformation's architecture carries unusual weight. Gaby Baizas, a digital forensics researcher at Rappler whose investigations have prompted tech platforms to remove hundreds of fake accounts and harmful videos, has been awarded the United Kingdom's Chevening Scholarship — one of 23 Filipinos chosen from a record 3,500 applicants — to pursue a master's degree in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. Her selection reflects a broader recognition that the fight for an informed public requires not only courage, but rigorous, technically grounded inquiry.
Gaby Baizas has spent years at Rappler doing the painstaking work of tracing how disinformation moves — mapping fake account networks, documenting coordinated campaigns, and building cases precise enough that tech companies have acted on them, removing hundreds of fraudulent accounts and taking down more than a hundred harmful videos. That work has now earned her a place among 23 Filipinos selected for the UK's Chevening Scholarship, chosen from a record 3,500 applicants. She will pursue a master's in Media and Communications, with a specialization in Data and Society, at the London School of Economics.
Her path has been deliberate. After graduating with honorable mention in Communication from Ateneo de Manila University, she joined Rappler and began writing about online platforms and information operations. By late 2021, she had become one of the first two researchers on Rappler's digital forensics team, a unit that partners with data forensics company The Nerve to analyze large datasets and trace coordinated inauthentic behavior — work that sits at the demanding intersection of technical analysis and public-interest storytelling.
The Chevening Scholarship, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, supports emerging leaders pursuing one-year master's degrees across fields ranging from law and public policy to climate solutions and data science. Rappler has a notable history with the award — Executive Editor Glenda Gloria, Editor-at-Large Marites Vitug, and justice reporter Lian Buan are among its alumni — suggesting the scholarship committee finds something distinctive in the newsroom's commitment to rigorous, institutionally engaged journalism.
For Baizas, the year in London represents a chance to deepen the theoretical foundations beneath work she is already doing in practice. Applications for the next Chevening cohort open October 7, 2025.
Gaby Baizas has spent the last few years at Rappler documenting how disinformation spreads across social media platforms, tracing the networks of fake accounts and coordinated campaigns that distort public conversation. Her work has been precise enough that tech companies have acted on it—removing hundreds of fraudulent accounts, taking down more than a hundred harmful videos. Now, at 23 Filipinos selected from a record 3,500 applicants, she has been awarded the United Kingdom's Chevening Scholarship to pursue a master's degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The Chevening Scholarship, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, is designed to identify and support emerging leaders from around the world. Recipients spend one year in Britain pursuing a specialized master's degree. This year's cohort of Filipino scholars will study across a range of fields—law, sustainability, public policy, data science, health, climate solutions—reflecting the program's broad mandate to develop talent across sectors. Baizas will focus on Media and Communications, with a specialization in Data and Society, a field that sits directly at the intersection of her reporting work and the technical questions that have animated her research.
Her path to this point has been deliberate. She completed an undergraduate degree in Communication at Ateneo de Manila University, graduating with honorable mention. After university, she joined Rappler's newsroom as part of the digital communications team, where she began writing about online platforms and information operations—the mechanics of how false narratives move through networks. In late 2021, she became one of the first two researchers for Rappler's digital forensics team, a unit that partners with data forensics company The Nerve to analyze large datasets and trace coordinated inauthentic behavior.
The work has been consequential. Her stories and research have documented specific campaigns and networks, providing evidence that has prompted action from the platforms themselves. When a researcher publishes findings that lead to the removal of hundreds of accounts or the takedown of over a hundred videos, it means the work has moved beyond observation into intervention—the platforms have reviewed the evidence and acted. This is the kind of forensic journalism that requires both technical literacy and narrative clarity, the ability to see patterns in data and then explain them to readers and to the companies that host the content.
Rappler has a history with this scholarship. Executive editor Glenda Gloria, editor-at-large Marites Vitug, and justice reporter Lian Buan have all been Chevening scholars. Journalist Carmela Fonbuena was a Rappler reporter when she received the award in 2015. The pattern suggests that the scholarship committee recognizes something in the newsroom's approach to reporting—a combination of rigor, public interest focus, and willingness to engage with complex systems and institutions.
For Baizas, the master's degree represents a chance to deepen the theoretical and technical foundations of work she is already doing. Data and Society as a field of study examines how information, technology, and social structures interact—precisely the terrain her forensics research covers. The year in London will likely sharpen both her analytical toolkit and her ability to situate her work within broader conversations about media, technology, and democracy.
Applications for the next cohort of Chevening scholars—the 2026-2027 group—open on October 7, 2025. The program continues to draw significant interest from the Philippines, and the record number of applications this year suggests that appetite for these opportunities remains strong.
Notable Quotes
Her stories and research have prompted tech companies to remove hundreds of fake accounts on their platforms, and have led to takedowns of over a hundred harmful videos online.— Rappler reporting on Baizas's forensics work
Want the full story?
Read the original at Rappler ↗
Education