[Speaking at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Nobel laureate Maria
Ressa noted that lies, laced with anger and hate, spread faster than
facts. "Rebuilding trust with truth is vital to combat the rise of
fascism," she said.]
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PHILIPPINE NOBEL LAUREATE MARIA RESSA: JOURNALISM IS ‘AT AN
EXISTENTIAL MOMENT’  
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Srinivas Mazumdaru
June 21, 2022
New Click
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_ Speaking at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Nobel laureate Maria
Ressa noted that lies, laced with anger and hate, spread faster than
facts. "Rebuilding trust with truth is vital to combat the rise of
fascism," she said. _

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If you don't have facts you don't have truth; if you don't have
truth, you don't have trust," Nobel laureate Maria Ressa said on
Monday, delivering the keynote address at this year's DW Global Media
Forum in Bonn.   

Media experts from around the world are taking part at the two-day
event to discuss the future of journalism in a time of wars, crises
and catastrophes.

During her speech, Ressa pointed out how big tech is contributing to
the problem of fake news and disinformation, noting that lies
— laced with anger and hate — travel faster than facts.

The spread of lies, as well as personalized mass persuasion,
hyper-socialization and the tyranny of trends are eroding a sense of
shared reality
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promoting surveillance capitalism, she argued.

"Don't become a surveillance capitalism loser news organization. We
must use tech to control our own destiny," she underlined, adding:
"If you don't have rule of law in the virtual world, you won't have
rule of law in the natural world."

"If you don't have integrity of facts, how can you have integrity of
elections?" she questioned, stressing how the situation poses a
threat to democracy.

The renowned journalist called for legislation to regulate tech firms
as well as increased financial support for media, urging democratic
governments to allocate more than the 0.3% of their overseas
development assistance they currently spend on promoting
journalism.  

THREATS TO FREE SPEECH AND MEDIA

Ressa's comments come at a time when journalists and human rights
activists in the Philippines are increasingly concerned
about developments in the country, where Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the
son and namesake of the former Philippine dictator, will
become president on June 30 after his recent electoral triumph.

Marcos Jr.'s running mate — Sara Duterte, the daughter of the
outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte — was sworn in as vice
president
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Sunday.

Both of them have so far failed to acknowledge the human rights
atrocities that took place under their fathers.

In line with the family's decades-long effort to repair its legacy,
Marcos Jr. has in fact called for a revision of textbooks that cover
his father's rule, saying they are teaching children lies.

Critics say both the Marcos and Duterte families have excelled at
exploiting and manipulating social media to create an alternative
information ecosystem with wide reach. 

Rappler, the news organization founded by Ressa in 2012
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has been at the forefront of the campaign against fake news and
disinformation in the country, pooling together resources among a
variety of actors — including reporters, lawyers and
activists — to fact-check and expose disinformation.

A WELL-DECORATED JOURNALIST

The site, one of the most popular in the Southeast Asian country, has
emerged as a key platform to combat misinformation and document human
rights abuses, particularly over the past six years during the rule of
outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, including relating to his deadly
war on drugs. 

Rappler's journalists reported on the excesses of the anti-drug
campaign, which left thousands of mostly minor suspects shot dead by
police or vigilantes.

The drug killings are currently being investigated by the
International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.

The outlet's work has led to increased calls to hold Duterte
accountable for reported human rights violations.

In addition to Rappler, Ressa also co-founded the Real Facebook
Oversight Board, a group of global experts aimed at holding Facebook
accountable. It's not linked to the social media giant's own
oversight board.

'WE'RE LOSING THE WAR GLOBALLY'

At the GMF, Ressa said Facebook "replaced journalists with
influencers" and that social media rolled back democracy in a number
of countries, also calling for tougher government regulation. 

Speaking to DW later in the day, Ressa said: "The algorithms of social
media, which by now is the largest distribution platform for news
globally, literally pulled us apart, polarized us and radicalized us."

"The consequences are that you have news being distributed that is
emotionally manipulative, and the thinking slow part — which is
journalism, fact-based, evidence-based reasoning — that's not only
gotten weaker, it's allowed the rise of illiberal democracies around
the world."

She also stressed that "we're losing the war globally" when it comes
to the fight for fact-based journalism.

By relying on social media for content distribution, Ressa said, news
organizations "walked into a surveillance capitalism model that is
essentially manipulating people online for profit."

That's why, "I think they must separate," she said.

"Our biggest problem right now is how do we reclaim our communities.
How do we build better tech so that distribution somehow comes back to
us and all of that begins with holding technology accountable for the
harms it has caused."

ATTEMPTS TO SHUT DOWN RAPPLER

In October 2021, Ressa — along with the Russian journalist Dmitry
Muratov — received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to
protect freedom of expression.
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In response to Rappler's critical reporting, however, the Philippine
government has taken several steps to shut down the site by charging
Ressa and the publication with multiple counts of tax evasion as
well as cybercrimes.

The outlet's journalists and Ressa, in particular, have been targets
of hate campaigns and have faced a deluge of insults and threats
online.

In 2020, she was convicted of online libel under the Philippines's
anti-cybercrime law
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which critics say is used as a means to quash dissent. 

Talking on Monday about the attacks and persecution she's suffered,
Ressa said that she will not give up, and will continue to fight for
her convictions. "I will fight because I have to believe in the rule
of law," she said.

_NewsClick (newsclick.in) is an independent media organization
dedicated to covering news from India and elsewhere with a focus on
progressive movements. Founded in 2009, NewsClick has, over the years,
become one of India’s most consistent chroniclers of diverse
people’s movements and struggles. NewsClick’s aim has always been
to report, in depth, on news and views ignored by corporate media,
whose agenda is dictated by the rich and powerful in the country. _

_In addition to an experienced team of reporters across the country,
NewsClick hosts the work of critical and progressive voices from
across the country. NewsClick also focuses extensively on science and
technology, and on data journalism.   _

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