UN to Marcos: Stop crackdown on press freedom
Concerned over recent developments in the Philippines involving journalists, a United Nations special rapporteur urged the Marcos administration to bring an end to what she described as a crackdown on press freedom and to stop criminalizing libel.
Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan called on Marcos’ government to withdraw the charges against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, reverse the decisions against Rappler and other online news platforms, and investigate all attacks and killings of journalists.
“I urge President Marcos to take this opportunity to bring an end to the crackdown on press freedom in the Philippines,” Khan said in a statement.
Khan also spoke out against the “criminalization of journalists” involved in libel cases in the Philippines.
Resorting to libel “impedes public interest reporting and is incompatible with the right to freedom of expression,” the Khan maintained, adding that criminal libel law “has no place in a democratic country and should be repealed.”
Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work as a co-founder of news outlet Rappler, was convicted of cyber libel in 2020.
It followed publication of an article on alleged corruption involving the late chief justice Renato Corona.
The ruling by the Court of Appeals earlier this month also applied to former journalist Reynaldo Santos Jr., who wrote the Rappler story. The prison sentence of Ressa and Santos was increased to six years and eight months.
The special rapporteur, who was appointed by the Human Rights Council, also expressed concern that the 2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act – signed by the late former president Benigno Aquino III on Sept. 12, 2012 – had been applied retroactively in Ressa’s case, “as the Rappler article in question was published before this law was enacted.
The story was originally published on May 29, 2012 and republished with minor corrections in 2014.
The final ruling on the application of the cyber libel law on reposted or tweeted stories is being closely watched.
“This is yet another example of the relentless attack against Maria Ressa for daring to speak truth to power,” Khan said.
On June 28, the Securities and Exchange Commission also affirmed its 2018 decision to revoke Rappler’s certificates of incorporation for violating foreign ownership restrictions on mass media, effectively confirming its shutdown.
“On 8 June, the Philippine National Telecommunications Commission ordered internet providers to restrict access to local news websites Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly for allegedly violating anti-terrorism laws,” Khan noted, claiming that no evidence was provided to justify the move.