Fighting for freedom of expression earns Nobel Peace Prize

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia.

The Norwegian Nobel committee said their fight for freedom of expression is vital in promoting peace.

"Free, independent and factbased journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," said Berit Reiss-andersen, chair of the committee.

"Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time.”

Ressa in 2012 co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused "critical attention on the [President Rodrigo] Duterte regime's controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign", the committee said.

She and Rappler "have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse".

Ressa told Norway's TV2 channel that "the government [of the Philippines] will obviously not be happy.

"I'm a little shocked. It's really emotional," she added.

Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993.

"Novaya Gazeta is the most independent newspaper in Russia today, with a fundamentally critical attitude towards power," the committee said.

"The newspaper's fact-based journalism and professional integrity have made it an important source of information on censurable aspects of Russian society rarely mentioned by other media."

Since the launch of Novaya Gazeta, six of its journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, who covered Russia's bloody conflict in Chechnya.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We can congratulate Dmitry Muratov – he has consistently worked in accordance with his ideals."

Ms Reiss-andersen also noted the risks to free speech due to the spread of fake news, noting that Ressa has been critical of Facebook's role in manipulating public debate.