Duterte and disinformation
Film about plight of Filipino journalist has stark message in times of division
Maria Ressa says she didn’t take Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte seriously when he declared four years ago that “corrupt” journalists weren’t “exempted from assassination”.
“In 2016, it was really, really laughable. And I thought, ‘Oh, doesn’t matter’. I laughed,” said the country’s best-known journalist and leader of the independent Rappler news organisation.
But Ressa was arrested and thrown in jail, targeted in a series of criminal cases and convicted this year on libel and tax evasion charges, seen widely as attacks on press freedom. She is appealing her convictions but now faces six years in prison.
A Thousand Cuts, a new documentary from FilipinoAmerican filmmaker Ramona S Diaz, tracks Ressa’s dual life in recent years.
The film argues Americans should learn from the recent history of the Philippines, where social media has helped divide the country and critical press outlets are regularly lambasted by the president. ABS-CBN, the country’s largest TV network, was shut down by the Government’s telecommunications regulator in May.
Promoting the film in a Zoom interview from her home in Manila, Ressa shook her fists and laughed with dark humour about what she called her “war of attrition” with the Government.
“When all the different parts of government work against you — it’s kind of shocking,” she said. “I can’t wait to really write this — because I can’t write at all right now, because then I would be in contempt of court.”
Facebook has become the centre of the internet for most Filipinos, and Rappler utilised it to grow rapidly as a startup news site. But the film shows how Duterte’s populist campaign harnessed the platform to spread its message and target Ressa and other journalists.
Duterte supporters live-streamed protests at the Rappler office, and death threats flooded the comments alongside red heart emojis. Disinformation on the social media platform exacerbated the problem, Ressa said.
She began wearing a bulletproof vest because of threats and is seen in the film repeatedly pleading with Facebook representatives to delete violent posts or cut live streams. Last month, she grew frustrated watching Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders speak before the US Congress.
“For the tech giants, it’s wilful blindness, wilful ignorance, wilful arrogance — because people like me are feeling the impact of the decisions they make,” Ressa said.
Diaz, at home in the US, hopes her film can help protect Ressa and other journalists.
“It’s a global story. There are very many Marias around the world. And that’s why it’s key to keep the story of press freedom . . . and the importance of independent media alive.”
Even during a pandemic shutdown and under court-ordered restrictions, Ressa is doing her part. “Part of the reason we’ve survived the last four years is because I haven’t stopped talking,” she said. “That’s the best strategy so far to deal with a government that wants you to shut up. Don’t shut up!”