Page 110 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN
Figure 2: Maria Ressa: co- where she was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship and continued
founder and CEO of Rappler
and Laureate of the Nobel
Peace Prize 2021
Maria Ressa: There is no better time to be a
journalist and fight for truth
Within the sphere of freedom in civil society, no contemporary
person in ASEAN is better known for taking a stand than Maria
Ressa.
She is a Filipino-American journalist who co-founded
Rappler, an online news website based in the Philippines where
she serves as CEO. As a child, Maria left the Philippines with her
mother under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. In the USA, she
excelled in her studies and graduated from Princeton University
her studies at University of the Philippines Diliman. In the late
1980s, Ressa established and led CNN’s Manila bureau following
the People Power uprising that toppled the Marcos presidency
led by civil disobedience leader Corazon C. Aquino. In 2012
with social media becoming more prominent, Maria Ressa co-
founded Rappler and as lead investigative journalist exposed
President Rodrigo Duterte’s abuse of power, murderous
anti-drug campaign, use of social media to spread fake news,
harassment of political opponents and manipulation of public
discourse.
The Nobel Peace Prize recognises Maria Ressa as a
fearless defender of freedom of expression and willingness
to fight the numerous legal cases and revocation of Rappler’s
revoking of their operating license by the Duterte government.
Subsequently, Ressa and Rappler were acquitted in Philippine
courts.
Maria Ressa reminds the ECAAR audience that she still
has much to say. She agrees with Ramos-Horta that there is
a sort of “roll back” in democracy and notes the significant
challenges to democracy worldwide. She is especially clear
about the dangers to democracy in using social media to
spread misinformation and the unethical use of algorithms that
generate the user’s emotions of anger and hate. She also warns
of the unethical practice of acquiring and using personal data
by social media companies, citing the case of Facebook and
Cambridge Analytica. These practices embolden more overt
abuses of power by leaders and make users grow indifferent to
the necessity for truthful information.
Despite these worrying trends, Ressa says she will
continue to promote the freedom and integrity of the press and
calls upon ASEAN leaders to promote ethics in their country as
a duty to building ASEAN ethics.
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