The Ghost of The Past

Netizen's  Question: Some Colombians claimed that Ariadna Gutierrez was the real Miss Universe 2015 just because Steve Harvey announce it first, and the first announcement is supposed to be final and irrevocable.  Some Colombians are still committing historical revisionism in the world of pageants.

I think this example falls under historical distortion rather historical revisionism.  To understand these two terms they need to be defined separately and making examples is a must to drive home the meaning.

If we are going to listen to Krasner (2019), he defined historical revisionism as the reinterpretation of a historical account or narrative based on actual facts and aforementioned evidence. The best example of this was  Lapulapu and Magellan.  

I used to hear my history teachers telling us that Lapulapu killed Magellan last March 16, 1521.  Later studies found outthat somebody under Lapulapu's command did the killing. If Ella Cruz could see, we should give kudos to the historians, and the evidence they accumulate that made past events that were somewhat ambiguous became crystal clear as they were clarified and new information has come to the radar screen. This is historical revisionism.

While according to Cristobal (2019), historical distortion occurs when historical accounts or narratives are changed to suit somebody's personal agenda. It involves disinformation and lies to change history one writer Joshua Corcuera said about historical distortion ... he mentioned the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and how "he was often praised by many of his loyalists to this day. Some of them spread misleading content and lies on social media. 

One example of those lies is that the Marcoses did not steal from state coffers even though several court rulings, at home and abroad, ruled otherwise."

"There is also clear and compelling evidence of human rights violations during the martial law years but many loyalists either deny that this truly happened as they defend the Marcoses from blame. There are even bloggers on YouTube who contradict historians when it comes to the controversies and atrocities committed by the Marcoses."

"Worse, many people believe in bloggers rather than historians when it comes to history. To me, they seem like severely ill patients who believe more in the remedies suggested by quack doctors rather than licensed medical professionals. Obviously, since lies and disinformation are involved, claiming that there were no human rights violations or corruption under Marcos’ martial law is a form of historical distortion."

In the case of Ariadna, if social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are being used and taken advantage of, to spread disinformation in an attempt for powerful people to advance their interests... then it is historical distortion.