Filipino Nobel laureate Ressa loses appeal for online defamation

Filipino Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa lost her appeal against a cyber defamation conviction, her news website Rappler said on Friday, in the latest blow to the veteran journalist.

Ressa and her former colleague Rey Santos Jr. face lengthy jail terms, but the company said they would “use every legal remedy available to them,” including the Supreme Court action.

The ruling comes less than two weeks after Philippine authorities ordered Rappler to close before the last day in office of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Rappler on Friday described the decision to uphold the conviction as “unfortunate” and said it “weakens journalists’ ability to hold power to account.”

“What is ultimately at stake is our democracy, the strength of which rests in media that are not threatened by the state, nor intimidated by forces bent on silencing critical voices,” Rappler said.

Ressa has long been a vocal critic of Duterte and the deadly drug war he launched in 2016, which media sources say has sparked a spate of criminal charges, investigations and online attacks against her and Rappler.

She and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize in October for their efforts to “protect freedom of expression”.

Ressa, who is also a US citizen, is fighting at least seven lawsuits, including the cyber defamation case, for which she is on bail and faces up to six years in prison.

Rappler, who faces eight cases, has been struggling to survive as Duterte’s government accused her of violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership to secure funding and tax evasion.

Just days before Duterte left office, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission ordered Rappler to shut down for violating “constitutional and legal restrictions on foreign property in mass media.”

Ressa promised the company would continue operations while it follows the court case, but expressed hope that things would improve under Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

But the future of the company and its struggle in the country’s highly politicized legal system under Marcos Jr.’s presidency is uncertain.

Marcos Jr., who took over from Duterte on June 30, has offered few references to his views on the site and the broader issue of free speech.

However, activists fear that he could worsen the situation for human rights and freedom of expression in the country.