By Emmalyn Liwag Kotte
Photo by E. Liwag-Kotte
Inspired by Maria Ressa, a group of Filipinos in Norway vowed to form a “community of action” to help stop the spread of disinformation and hatred on social media sites like Facebook.
Ressa met the group shortly after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize together with Russia’s Dmitry Muratov in Oslo last December 10.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the veteran journalists received the award “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
Ressa urged the group to build “communities of action“, noting that “it’s a do or die moment” for those who want to stop further division among Filipinos.
In an earlier speech at the awarding ceremony that took place at the Oslo City Hall, the Rappler chief executive lamented how technology companies have become the new gatekeepers of information, allowing “a virus of lies to infect each of us, pitting us against each other, bringing out our fears, anger, hate, and setting the stage for the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world”.
“Our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritized by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Ka Man Mak/ The Oslo Desk
With great optimism, she also reminded her Filipino audience not to “forget the best of what we can do because the best of humanity makes miracles happen”.
Ressa cited other measures that may help address the destructive effects of lies and fake news: making sure people know they are being m
anipulated; confronting social media platforms and demanding democratic states to take policy actions.
She pointed out the urgency of measures such as the drafting of the European Union’s Digital Services Act, noting that they will certainly influence next year’s election results in countries like the Philippines.
After meeting with Ressa, University of Oslo Professor Rose Bernabe acknowledged the urgency of regulatory measures against delinquent tech companies and said “we should really act now to fight against the disinformation that is prevalent in social media.”
Jun Solas, a community leader from Oslo, also agreed that Filipinos have to look at what they can give and do for their country.
ABS-CBN’s Norway correspondent and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) director, Macel Ingles, said it is indeed important “to do our part to fight disinformation so that we can make informed decisions on who we will choose to lead the country. A community that fact-checks and consciously informs its people makes a difference since it creates awareness that disinformation happens online and helps spread facts that can make or unmake political opinions and decisions.”
Along with the idea of forming a “community of action", the Filipino community brought up plans to hold activities for better fact-checking skills after the meeting with Ressa.
Photo by E. Liwag-Kotte
Ressa has been a journalist for more than 35 years and worked at Philippine government station, PTV 4, The Probe Team, ABS-CBN and then CNN before she co-founded Rappler, an online news website.
Ressa has been a constant target of political harassment and arrests by the Duterte administration.
She posted bail ten times following a string of cases filed against her.
Dmitry Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper, in 1993, and has been its editor-in-chief for 24 years.
Six of its journalists were murdered during that period.
END

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