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| Maria Ressa (center) was arrested in Manila as soon as she got off the airplane. |
As people in the United States know too well from the last four years of the Trump presidency, damaging the credibility of the news media with accusations of "fake news" is a prime strategy for sowing disinformation and chaos.
Press freedom in the Philippines, once the most free-wheeling and aggressive in Asia, has been under attack since the days of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Under the regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, at the center of the media storm is Maria Ressa, a Filipino American journalist who returned to the Philippines to use her pen to rail against the human rights abuses of the Duterte presidency.
Ressa lives at the core of a very 21st century war against press freedom, especially against outspoken women journalists. It is a furor of disinformation and attacks - one in which credible journalists are subjected to online violence with impunity; where facts wither and democracies teeter.
"She is not only attacked for being a journalist. She is attacked for being a woman. For the color and texture of her skin. For her American citizenship. And for her sexuality," says the report.
New research released on March 8, which marks International Women’s Day, provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the online violence against Ressa, reports the Centre for Freedom of the Media , a global research agency for media freedom and maintaining journalistic standards.
The research which was published by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and conducted by CFOM members Julie Posetti, Diana Maynard and Kalina Bontcheva, consists of a big data analysis “of the torrent of social media attacks on internationally celebrated digital media pioneer Maria Ressa over a five-year period (2016-2021).”
The research “detail[s] the intensity and ferocity of this abuse, and demonstrate[s] how it is designed not only to vilify a journalism icon, but to discredit journalism itself, and shatter public trust in facts”. It is also shown how “[t]hese attacks (…) created an enabling environment for Ressa’s persecution and prosecution in the Philippines” where Ressa “faces a barrage of baseless lawsuits that seek to criminalize her work and expose her to a century in prison” according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, the co-lead of Ressa’s international legal team.
The research further shows how “the furor of disinformation and attacks” targeting the former CNN war correspondent and UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize jury chair Maria Ressa is emblematic of “a very 21st century storm (…) – one in which credible journalists are subjected to online violence with impunity; where facts wither and democracies teeter”.
Key research findings show that: “almost 60% of the attacks on Ressa … extracted from Facebook and Twitter for analysis were designed to undermine her professional credibility and public trust in her journalism”.
Attacks intending to harm Ressa’s credibility or reputation “frequently deployed disinformation tactics and abuse conflating Ressa and her journalism with “fake news” (e.g., “Queen of Fake News”; “LIAR”; “#Presstitute”)”.
Moreover, “[o]ver 40% of the attacks in the combined datasets targeted Ressa at the personal level” and “14% of all abuse and 34% in the category of ‘personal’ attacks against Ressa could be classified as misogynistic, sexist and explicit abuse”.
The research also finds “evidence that some of the attacks on Ressa are coordinated or orchestrated – a hallmark of State-led disinformation campaigns.”
"She is not only attacked for being a journalist. She is attacked for being a woman. For the color and texture of her skin. For her American citizenship. And for her sexuality," says the report.
New research released on March 8, which marks International Women’s Day, provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the online violence against Ressa, reports the Centre for Freedom of the Media , a global research agency for media freedom and maintaining journalistic standards.
The research which was published by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and conducted by CFOM members Julie Posetti, Diana Maynard and Kalina Bontcheva, consists of a big data analysis “of the torrent of social media attacks on internationally celebrated digital media pioneer Maria Ressa over a five-year period (2016-2021).”
The research “detail[s] the intensity and ferocity of this abuse, and demonstrate[s] how it is designed not only to vilify a journalism icon, but to discredit journalism itself, and shatter public trust in facts”. It is also shown how “[t]hese attacks (…) created an enabling environment for Ressa’s persecution and prosecution in the Philippines” where Ressa “faces a barrage of baseless lawsuits that seek to criminalize her work and expose her to a century in prison” according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, the co-lead of Ressa’s international legal team.
The research further shows how “the furor of disinformation and attacks” targeting the former CNN war correspondent and UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize jury chair Maria Ressa is emblematic of “a very 21st century storm (…) – one in which credible journalists are subjected to online violence with impunity; where facts wither and democracies teeter”.
Key research findings show that: “almost 60% of the attacks on Ressa … extracted from Facebook and Twitter for analysis were designed to undermine her professional credibility and public trust in her journalism”.
Attacks intending to harm Ressa’s credibility or reputation “frequently deployed disinformation tactics and abuse conflating Ressa and her journalism with “fake news” (e.g., “Queen of Fake News”; “LIAR”; “#Presstitute”)”.
Moreover, “[o]ver 40% of the attacks in the combined datasets targeted Ressa at the personal level” and “14% of all abuse and 34% in the category of ‘personal’ attacks against Ressa could be classified as misogynistic, sexist and explicit abuse”.
The research also finds “evidence that some of the attacks on Ressa are coordinated or orchestrated – a hallmark of State-led disinformation campaigns.”
These are the 11 key findings of the case study examining online violence against Ressa:
- Almost 60% of the attacks on Ressa we extracted from Facebook and Twitter for analysis were designed to undermine her professional credibility and public trust in her journa
- Credibility or reputation-based attacks frequently deployed disinformation tactics and abuse conflating Ressa and her journalism with “fake news” (e.g., “Queen of Fake News”; “LIAR”; “#Presstitute”).
- Over 40% of the attacks in the combined datasets targeted Ressa at the personal level - often viscerally.
- 14% of all abuse and 34% in the category of ‘personal’ attacks against Ressa could be classified as misogynistic, sexist and explicit abuse.
- The use of abusive memes and manipulated images, which ‘fly under the radar’ of detection, is commonplace.
- There is evidence that some of the attacks on Ressa are coordinated or orchestrated - a hallmark of State-led disinformation campaigns.
- Much of the abuse and threats are fueled by President Duterte’s public statements demonizing Ressa and Rappler as criminals, and pro-Duterte bloggers/social media influencers.
- Lightning rods for attacks include: Rappler’s investigative journalism; Ressa’s reporting and commentary on State-linked disinformation; Ressa’s high-profile media appearances; her industry accolades; and her court appearances.
- Facebook is the main vector for the online violence Ressa faces. It is also the most used social media site in the Philippines - a country which spends more time online than any other.
- Both Facebook and Twitter have promised to address the attacks on Ressa, but Facebook has failed dismally to effectively stem the tide of hate against her. Ressa says she feels “significantly safer” on Twitter.
- For every one comment supportive of Ressa on her Facebook page, there were about 14 comments attacking her.
The study identifies key recommendations for action based on the case study of online violence against Ressa. These point to the need for:
- Political actors to be held accountable for inciting violence against women journalists;
- States to review and adapt legal and regulatory frameworks designed to uphold freedom of expression and equality, to ensure they can be applied effectively online as well as offline;
- News organizations to provide integrated digital and physical security, alongside psychological and peer support for women journalists targeted online; for social media companies to create specialist teams to respond swiftly to attacks on women journalists;
- Law enforcement and the judiciary to ensure gender-sensitive and digitally-literate responses to online violence against women journalists.
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