Nobel Prize lecture: Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize 2021
Summary
TLDRMaria Ressa, a journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, delivers a powerful speech highlighting the plight of journalists worldwide who risk their lives to report the truth. She addresses the alarming rise of disinformation, its impact on democracy, and the role of technology in spreading lies. Ressa calls for a global response to protect press freedom, uphold facts, and combat the divisiveness fueled by social media platforms prioritizing profit over truth. She urges individuals to consider what they are willing to sacrifice for truth and to envision a world built on peace, trust, and empathy.
Takeaways
- π’ Maria Ressa emphasizes the importance of journalism in upholding truth and holding power accountable, despite the significant sacrifices made by journalists worldwide.
- π She recounts the tragic fates of several journalists, including Jamal Khashoggi and Daphne Caruana Galizia, highlighting the dangers faced by those who seek to report the truth.
- π₯ Ressa acknowledges the efforts of the Hold the Line Coalition and human rights groups in defending press freedom and the costs they bear, including the killing of lawyers in the Philippines.
- π She discusses the dual threat posed by the absence of law and the rise of technology, which has amplified the spread of lies and divisiveness, contributing to the rise of authoritarianism.
- π Ressa calls for a transformation of the current information ecosystem, which is prioritized by American internet companies that profit from hate and violence.
- π‘ She shares her personal experiences and the resilience of Rappler, a news organization she helped create, in the face of government attacks and the importance of community support.
- π« Ressa warns of the dangers of disinformation, particularly its impact on women, and calls for immediate action to tackle this growing threat.
- π She connects the local issues in the Philippines with global concerns, such as the role of social media in spreading lies and the real-world consequences of online violence.
- π‘οΈ Ressa advocates for the protection of journalists, the regulation of surveillance economics, and the need for a new multilateral approach to restore facts and democracy in the information ecosystem.
- π She concludes with a call to action, urging everyone to imagine and work towards a better world, one that prioritizes peace, trust, and empathy.
Q & A
Who is Maria Ressa and what is her significance in the context of the speech?
-Maria Ressa is a journalist and the co-founder of Rappler, a news website in the Philippines. She is significant because she represents journalists worldwide who are fighting for press freedom and are under threat for holding power accountable.
What is the 'Hold the Line Coalition' mentioned in the speech?
-The 'Hold the Line Coalition' is a group of over 80 global organizations that defend press freedom and work to ensure the safety of journalists.
Why is Maria Ressa particularly concerned about the rise of authoritarians and dictators?
-Maria Ressa is concerned about the rise of authoritarians and dictators because they often suppress press freedom, manipulate information, and use technology to spread lies, which can lead to the erosion of democracy and human rights.
What is the connection between technology and the spread of lies as mentioned in the speech?
-Technology, particularly social media platforms, has been used to amplify lies and misinformation, which can pit people against each other and create an environment conducive to the rise of authoritarian regimes.
How does Maria Ressa describe the impact of lies and hate on society?
-Maria Ressa describes the impact of lies and hate as a 'toxic sludge' that is coursing through the information ecosystem, prioritizing the spread of negativity and divisiveness, which can lead to real-world violence and the undermining of democracy.
What is the significance of the 'old gatekeepers' and 'new gatekeepers' in the context of journalism?
-The 'old gatekeepers' refer to traditional media institutions that controlled the flow of information, while the 'new gatekeepers' are technology companies with immense power to shape public opinion, often prioritizing engagement over accuracy.
Why does Maria Ressa emphasize the importance of facts and truth in journalism?
-Maria Ressa emphasizes the importance of facts and truth because they are the foundations of trust and shared reality, which are essential for a functioning democracy. Without them, societies cannot effectively address existential problems.
What is the role of gender disinformation in the current media landscape according to Maria Ressa?
-Gender disinformation is a significant threat that targets women, girls, trans, and LGBTQ+ individuals, affecting their mental health and physical safety. It is a form of hate that needs to be tackled urgently.
How does Maria Ressa view the role of technology companies in the current information ecosystem?
-Maria Ressa views technology companies as having a profound influence on the information ecosystem, often prioritizing profit over facts and truth, which can lead to the spread of hate, lies, and divisiveness.
What solutions does Maria Ressa propose to combat the challenges faced by journalism and democracy?
-Maria Ressa proposes a multifaceted approach that includes restoring facts, rebuilding journalism for the 21st century, regulating surveillance economics, providing greater protection for journalists, and addressing the advertising model of journalism.
Outlines
π’ Standing for Journalistic Integrity
The speaker, Maria Ressa, begins by expressing gratitude to the Nobel Committee and acknowledges the presence of esteemed guests. She then proceeds to represent journalists worldwide who risk their lives to uphold the truth and hold power accountable. Ressa recounts the tragic fates of fellow journalists like Jamal Khashoggi and Daphne Caruana Galizia, emphasizing the dangers faced by those in the profession. She also mentions the support from organizations like the Hold the Line Coalition and the personal cost of her work, including the imprisonment of lawyers and colleagues. Ressa highlights the dual threat to democracy posed by the absence of law and the unchecked power of technology companies, which sheζ―ε»δΈΊ'god-like' gatekeepers spreading lies and hate. She concludes the paragraph by urging a transformation of the current information ecosystem and the need for greater effort to promote good in the world.
π The Courage to Confront Challenges
Maria Ressa continues her speech by discussing the support she has received from individuals who, despite the risks, choose to help journalists. She emphasizes the importance of this support in a world often dominated by fear and violence. Ressa then reflects on the historical significance of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize as a journalist, drawing a parallel to Carl von Ossietzky, who was unable to accept his award due to his imprisonment by the Nazis. She underscores the urgency of the current moment for democracy and the need for journalists to have exposure and support, especially when facing persecution. Ressa shares her personal experiences of being targeted by the government in the Philippines, including arrest warrants and legal battles, which have only strengthened her resolve. She calls for a reimagining of the world, one that is more compassionate, equal, and sustainable, and challenges the audience to consider what they are willing to sacrifice for the truth.
π‘οΈ Defending Truth in the Age of Disinformation
In this paragraph, Maria Ressa delves into the dangers of social media as a tool for power and profit, criticizing the surveillance capitalism model that exploits personal data. She describes how social media platforms have become a battleground for truth, with lies and anger spreading more rapidly than facts. Ressa argues that these platforms, particularly Facebook, have become the largest distributors of news while also being biased against factual content. She discusses the impact of this on democracy and the rise of authoritarianism, using the January 6th Capitol Hill violence as an example of online violence translating into real-world consequences. Ressa calls for a reevaluation of the role of technology in society and the need for a multilateral approach to address the misinformation crisis.
π Vision for a Fact-Based Future
Maria Ressa outlines a vision for restoring the importance of facts in our information ecosystems. She calls for a shift in social priorities to support journalism and regulate the harmful practices of surveillance economics. Ressa emphasizes the need to protect journalists, reform the advertising model that sustains journalism, and embrace technology that promotes truth and trust. She discusses legislative actions like the EU's Democracy Action Plan and the potential for reform in the U.S. to address the power of social media platforms. Ressa concludes by urging individuals to take a stand for democracy and to fight for a better world, asking what each person is willing to sacrifice for the truth.
π A Call to Collective Action
The final paragraph is a call to action, encouraging the audience to imagine a world of peace, trust, and empathy. Ressa asks everyone to close their eyes and envision this ideal world before urging them to open their eyes and take action to make it a reality. She ends her speech with a powerful message of unity and the necessity of holding the line together to build the world we want.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Journalist
π‘Press Freedom
π‘Surveillance Capitalism
π‘Disinformation
π‘Authoritarians
π‘Truth
π‘Hate
π‘Cyber Libel
π‘Impunity
π‘Democracy
π‘Information Ecosystem
Highlights
Maria Ressa calls upon fellow journalists to hold the line and stay true to their mission of truth and accountability.
Remembers the brutal dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi and the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, among other journalists.
Acknowledges the work of the Hold the Line Coalition and human rights groups in defending press freedom.
Notes the high number of lawyers killed compared to journalists in the Philippines under President Duterte's administration.
Mentions the challenges faced by her own news organization, Rappler, including legal battles and loss of franchise.
Describes the dual threat to democracy posed by the absence of law and the rise of authoritarians and dictators.
Discusses the role of technology as a new gatekeeper, spreading lies and dividing society.
Emphasizes the need to transform hate and violence in the information ecosystem.
Shares personal experiences of kindness and the importance of believing in the good in the world.
Recalls the historical significance of receiving the Nobel Prize as a journalist, drawing parallels to 1936.
Highlights the importance of gender in the context of disinformation and its impact on women and journalists.
Describes the attacks against Rappler and the broader implications for press freedom and democracy.
Criticizes social media platforms for profiting from hate and lies, and calls for regulation.
Proposes solutions such as rebuilding journalism, protecting journalists, and addressing the advertising model.
Advocates for a multilateral approach to restore facts and combat the spread of disinformation.
Urges the audience to imagine a better world and to take action to make it a reality.
Transcripts
i call upon maria ressa to deliver her
noble lecture
for 2021
please take the stage
[Applause]
thank you
your majesties
your royal highnesses distinguished
members of the norwegian nobel committee
your excellencies distinguished guests
ladies and
gentlemen i stand before you a
representative of every journalist
around the world who is forced to
sacrifice so much to hold the line
to stay true to our values and mission
to bring you the truth and hold power to
account
i remember
the brutal dismemberment of jamal
khashoggi
the assassination of daphne caruana
galicia in malta
my friend luce meli reyes in venezuela
roman protozovich in belarus whose plane
was literally hijacked so he could be
arrested
jimmy ly languishing in a hong kong
prison sonny
who after getting out of more than seven
years in jail started another news group
and now is forced to flee myanmar
and in my own country
twenty-three-year-old frenchie me kumpio
still in prison after nearly two years
and
just 36 hours ago
the news that my former colleague jess
malabanan was killed with a bullet to
his head
there are so many to thank
for keeping us safer
and working
the hold the line coalition of more than
80 global groups defending press freedom
and the human rights groups that help us
shine the light
there are costs for you as well
at least
63
lawyers more lawyers have been killed
than journalists in the philippines at
least 63 compared to the 22 journalists
murdered after president rodrigo duterte
took office in 2016.
since then karapatan a member of our
courage on human rights coalition has
had 16 people killed and senator laila
de lima because she demanded
accountability
is serving her fifth year in jail or
abs-cbn
our largest broadcaster a newsroom that
i once led
which last year
lost its franchise to operate
i helped create a startup rappler
turning 10 years old in january we're
getting old our attempt to put together
two sides of the same coin that shows
everything wrong with our world today
the absence of law
and democratic vision for the 21st
century
that coin represents
our information ecosystem which
determines everything else about our
world journalists that's one side the
old gatekeepers
the other is technology with its
god-like power the new gatekeepers it
has allowed the virus of lies to infect
each of us
pitting us against each other
bringing out our fears
anger
hate
and setting the stage for the rise of
authoritarians and dictators
around the world
our greatest need today
is to transform that hate and violence
the toxic sludge that's coursing through
our information ecosystem prioritized
by american internet companies that make
more money by spreading that hate
and triggering the worst in us
okay well that just means we have to
work harder
you know
in order to be the good
we have to believe
there is good in the world
right an old t-shirt from rappler from
2014.
i've been a journalist for more than 35
years
i've worked in conflict zones and war
zones in asia reported on hundreds of
disasters and while i've seen so much
bad
i've also documented so much good
when people who have nothing
offer you what they have
part of how we a trappler have survived
the last five years of government
attacks
is because of the kindness of strangers
and the reason they help
despite the
the danger
is because they want to with little
expectation of anything in return
this is the best of who we are
the part of our humanity that makes
miracles
happen
this is what we lose in a world of fear
and violence
you've heard that the last time a
working journalist was given this award
was in 1936 awarded in 1935 he was
supposed to come and get it in 1936.
carl von zyeski never made it to oslo
because he languished in a nazi
concentration camp so
we're here
hopefully a little bit ahead we're both
here
by giving this to journalists today
thank you
the nobel committee is signaling a
similar historical moment
another existential point for democracy
dmitry and i are lucky because we can
speak to you now
yay for court approvals
but
there are so many more journalists
persecuted in the shadows with neither
exposure nor support and governments are
doubling down with impunity
the accelerant is technology when
creative destruction
takes new meaning
you've heard from david we are standing
on the rubble of the world that was
and we must have the foresight and
courage to imagine what might happen
if we don't act now and instead please
create the world as it should be
more compassionate
more equal
more sustainable
to do that please ask yourself the same
question we at rappler had to confront
five years ago
what are you
willing to sacrifice for the truth
i'll tell you how i lived my way into
the answer and three points first my
context and how these attacks shaped me
second by the problem we all face and
finally finding the solution
because we must
in less than two years the philippine
government filed ten arrest warrants
against me i've had to post bail ten
times just to do my job
last year i and a former colleague were
convicted of cyber libel for a story we
published eight years earlier at a time
the law we allegedly violated didn't
even exist
all told the charges i faced could send
me to jail for about 100 years
but the more i was attacked for my
journalism the more resolute i became i
had first-hand evidence of abuse of
power
what was meant to intimidate me and
rappler
only strengthened us
at the core of journalism is a code of
honor and mine is layered on different
worlds from how i grew up the golden
rule what's right and wrong
from college and the honor code i
learned there and my time as a reporter
and the code of standards and ethics i
learned and helped write
add to that the filipino idea of
literally the debt from within
at its best it's a system of paying it
forward
truth and ethical honor intersected like
an arrow into this moment where hate
lies and divisiveness thrive
as only the 18th woman to receive this
prize
i need to tell you how gender
disinformation is a new threat and is
taking a significant toll on the mental
health and physical safety of women
girls trans and lgbtq people all around
the world
women journalists are at the epicenter
of risk
this pandemic of misogyny and hatred
needs to be tackled now
even there though we can find strength
after all you don't really know who you
are
until you're forced to fight for it
now let me pull out so we're clear about
the problem we all face and how we got
here the attacks against us in rappler
began five years ago when we demanded an
end to impunity on two fronts rodrigo
duterte's drug war and mark zuckerberg's
today it has only gotten worse and
silicon valley since came home to roost
in the united states on january 6 with
mob violence on capitol hill
what happens on social media
doesn't stay on social media
online violence is
real world violence
social media is a deadly game for power
and money what shashana zubov calls
surveillance capitalism extracting our
private lives for outsized corporate
gain
our personal experiences sucked into a
database
organized by ai
then sold to the highest bidder
highly profitable micro targeting
operations are engineered to
structurally undermine human will
it's i've repeatedly called it a
behavior modification system in which we
are all pavlov's dogs experimented on in
real time with disastrous consequences
in countries like mine
myanmar india sri lanka so many more
these destructive corporations have
siphoned money away from news
organizations and now they pose a
foundational threat to markets
and elections
facebook is the world's largest
distributor of news and yet studies have
shown that lies laced with anger and
hate spread faster and further than
facts these american companies
controlling our global information
ecosystem are biased against facts
bias against journalists
they are by design dividing us
and radicalizing us
i've said this repeatedly over the last
five years
without facts you can't have truth
without truth you can't have trust
without trust
we have no shared reality no democracy
and it becomes impossible to deal with
the existential problems of our times
climate coronavirus
now the battle for truth
when i first was arrested in 2019 the
officer said mom trabajo
ma'am i'm only doing my job
then he lowered his voice to almost a
whisper as he read my miranda rights
he was really uncomfortable and i almost
felt sorry for him except he was
arresting me because i'm a journalist
this officer was a tool of power an exam
and an example of how a good man can
turn evil and how great atrocities
happen
hannah arendt wrote about the banality
of evil when describing men who carried
out the orders of hitler
how career-oriented bureaucrats can act
without conscience because they justify
what they're doing because they're only
following orders
this is how a nation
and the world
loses its soul
you have to know what values you're
fighting for you have to draw the lines
early but if you haven't done so please
do it now where on this side you're good
this side you're evil
some governments may be lost causes and
if you're working in tech i'm talking to
you
how can you have election integrity if
you don't have integrity of facts
that's the problem facing countries with
elections next year among them brazil
hungary france the united states and my
philippines
where we are at a do or die moment with
presidential elections on may 9th 35
years after the people power revolt
ousted ferdinand marcos and forced his
family into exile his son ferdinand
marcos jr is the front runner for
president
and he has built an extensive
disinformation network on social media
which rappler exposed in 2019
it's literally changing history in front
of our eyes
to show how disinformation is both a
local and global problem take the
chinese information operations taken
down by facebook in september 2020 a
year ago it was creating fake accounts
using ai generated photos for the us
elections
polishing the image of the marcosus in
the
philippines campaigning for the daughter
of duterte president duterte and
attacking me and rappler
chinese information operations so what
are we going to do
an invisible atom bomb has exploded in
our information ecosystem and the world
must act as it did after hiroshima like
that time we need to create new
institutions like the united nations and
new codes stating our values like the
universal declaration of human rights to
prevent humanity from doing its worse
it's an arms race in our information
ecosystem
to stop that requires a multilateral
approach that all of us must be part of
it begins
by restoring facts
we need information ecosystems that live
and die by facts
we do this by shifting social priorities
to rebuild journalism for the 21st
century
while regulating and outlawing the
surveillance economics that profit from
hate and lies
we need to help independent journalism
survive first
by giving greater protection to
journalists and standing up against
states
which target journalists
then we need to address the advertising
model of journalism
this is part of the reason that i agreed
to co-chair the international fund for
public interest media which is trying to
raise money from overseas development
assistance funds right now while
journalists are under attack on every
front only 0.3
0.3 percent of oda funds is spent on
journalism if we nudge that to just one
percent we can raise a billion dollars a
year for news organizations
that will be crucial for the global
south
journalists
must embrace technology
that's why with the help of google news
initiative rappler rolled out a new
platform two weeks ago
designed to build communities of action
it won't be as viral as what the tech
platforms built but the north star
is not profit alone it is
facts
truth
and trust
now for legislation
thanks to the eu for taking leadership
with its democracy action plan for the
u.s
reform or revoked section 230 the law
that treats social media platforms like
utilities it's not a comprehensive
solution but it gets the ball rolling
because these platforms put their thumbs
on the scale of distribution so while
the public debate is here
down here on content moderation
downstream the real slight of hand
happens further upstream where
algorithms of amplification
algorithms of distribution have been
programmed by humans
with coded bias
their editorial agenda is profit driven
carried out by machines at scale
the impact is global with cheap armies
on social media rolling back democracy
tearing it down in 81 countries around
the world
that impunity must stop
democracy has become a woman-to-woman
man-to-man defense of our values
we're at a sliding door moment where we
can continue down the path we're on
and descend further into fascism
or we can choose
to fight
for a better world
to do that please
ask yourself
what are you
willing to sacrifice for the truth
i didn't know if i was going to be here
today
every day i live with the real threat of
spending the rest of my life in jail
because i'm a journalist
when i go home
i have no idea what the future holds
but it's worth the risk
the destruction has already happened
now it's time to build to create the
world we want
so please with me
just
close your eyes
for just a moment
and imagine the world as it should be
a world of peace
trust and empathy
bringing out the best that we can be
open your eyes now go
we have to make it happen
please
let's hold the line
together
thank you
[Applause]
you
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