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Maria Ressa, the Philippines’ most prominent journalist, a Fulbright scholar, a Time magazine
Person of the Year for her crusade against disinformation, and a constant thorn in the side of
her country’s authoritarian but popular president, Rodrigo Duterte, was convicted of cyber libel
in a decision that is the latest blow to press freedom in the country.

In February, after years of government threats and accusations, Ms Ressa was accused of cyber-libel for
a report on a businessman’s alleged ties to a former judge. She had posted bail two months earlier on
manufactured tax fraud charges. She faces up to ten years in prison if convicted of one count of tax
fraud. Ressa was sentenced to between six months and six years in prison, but will not be detained
immediately pending an appeal to higher courts all the way up to the Philippines’ Supreme Court.
Despite the fact that Rappler, the firm, was found legally liable, she ordered the payment of 200,000
Philippine pesos in moral damages and another 200,000 pesos in exemplary damages.

In addition to the cyber libel charges, Ressa is facing another libel prosecution, two criminal cases
alleging illegal foreign ownership in her companies, and investigations into her old tax returns. The
various allegations leveled against Ressa could result in up to 100 years in prison. The law under which
Ressa was charged, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, did not exist at the time the story was published.
However, the lawsuit was accepted by the courts because the story was considered to have been
“republished” in February 2014 after an update was made to correct a typo.