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Maria Ressa has become the first Filipino to win the Nobel Peace Prize (Photo: Getty Images)
Maria Ressa has become the first Filipino Nobel Laureate––winning the Nobel Peace Prize on October 8, 2021 for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines.
A long-term investigative journalist in the region, and co-founder and CEO of Rappler, Ressa is an outspoken critic of outgoing Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
She also speaks out about the lack of regulation for social networks and the part they play in the spread and permeation of “fake news” and criticises the controversial and murderous anti-drug campaign which has resulted in a number of extrajudicial killings.
Don’t miss: Maria Ressa Makes History as the First Filipino to Ever Receive the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
In light of Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize win, we're looking back at some of her most impactful quotes, on the importance of a free press, the role of journalism and more.
1. “The mission of journalism has never been needed as much as it is now.”––speaking to CNN about press freedom in November 2018.
2. “Don't be afraid - if you don't exercise your rights, you will lose them.”––in a public statement after her conviction for libel in June 2020.
3. “If the social media platforms don't take the gatekeeping seriously they will kill the public sphere. If we don't get this right in 2020 you can open a decade or longer of a descent into fascism. And it will be global because platforms are global.”––speaking to The Guardian in February 2020.
4. “I don't think we have wrapped our heads around how much technology has allowed the manipulation of individuals and democracies.”––speaking to the Financial Times in August 2019.
5. “What are the values that give meaning? What is the line that you will never cross, because on this side you're good, and on this side you're evil.”––quoted from Maria Ressa's 2019 TIME 100 gala speech.
6. “I think that social media platforms and technology have been the accelerator for the push for the populist-style administrations in democratically elected presidents.”––from PBS's 2019 documentary, The Facebook Dilemma.
7. “Press freedom is not just about journalists, right? It's not just about us, it's not just about me, it's not just about Rappler. Press freedom is... the foundation of every single right of every single Filipino to the truth, so that we can hold the powerful to account.”––in a Rappler online feature from May 2021.
Don’t miss: Abdulrazak Gurnah Wins Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
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