Rappler's latest stories on speeches
[OPINION] How social media users can protect themselves from the anti-terror law
'What should the people do? Should they delete their old posts or make their accounts private?' That may not be enough.
Brazil's Senate approves controversial bill against disinformation
One of the bill's most controversial articles will require social media platforms to make supposedly confidential messages available to the judiciary for 3 months, including the identity of senders
Verizon joins brands boycotting Facebook ads over hate speech
Facebook is under increasing pressure for its hands-off approach to misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly by US President Donald Trump
No to anti-terror bill? DILG employees ‘advised’ against posting on social media
‘We are encouraging everyone in the DILG to be responsible in posting their views and comments against the bill in their social media accounts’
Shuttered Zoom accounts raise China free speech fears
Zoom is the latest in a long line of western social media and tech companies which have found themselves struggling to deal with the demands of authoritarian governments in lucrative overseas markets
[OPINION] The politics of dissent
'Some would say this fear of the Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020 is hypothetical as it is imaginary. There is nothing hypothetical or imaginary though with the story we have seen the last 4 years.'
[ANALYSIS] The Anti-Terrorism Act: Duterte will have all dissenters’ necks
Compared to the country's Human Security Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act drops the bar even lower
[OPINION] Martial rule without martial law: An anti-terror bill subtext
'What should be noted is the breadth and intensity of opposition [to the anti-terror bill]. This is a much broader range of opposition than on any other issue under the Duterte administration.'
[EXPLAINER] Can government employees post criticism of the anti-terror bill?
Even those working in the private sector cannot be terminated, disciplined, or punished for posting something on Facebook or Twitter or showing up at rallies
[EXPLAINER] Proposed Anti-Terror Act of 2020 a devil’s playground in the hands of a despot
The bill suffers from obvious legal infirmities, essentially begging for a constitutional challenge
[OPINION] What is the need for this anti-terror bill?
'The timing, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, is telling'
[OPINION] As the world collapses, the 4th estate is under threat
'We need to know what the slums look like, what a broken education system looks like, what hunger looks like – because they all have a face'
Coronavirus Updates: Threat to free speech in Cebu
We’ve documented in Cebu at least 3 instances where residents are either intimidated by politicians, visited by police, or arrested for their Facebook posts
Islamophobic disinformation, hate speech swamps social media during pandemic
A new report reveals that Islamophobic hashtags like #Coronajihad and #MuslimVirus reached 170 million Twitter users
Algeria cracks down on Facebook activists
One activist is accused of having insulted President Abdelmadjid Tebboune by calling him 'illegitimate,' while another has criticized the 'injustice' of Algeria's judicial system
[ANALYSIS] The right to call the government crazy
Voicing your exasperation over the government and its officials – even in impolite language – is constitutionally protected
With indictment of teacher, media told be careful when interviewing suspects
Ex-SC Spokesperson Ted Te says the NBI agents are still liable for the arbitrary detention of teacher Ronnel Mas
DOJ okays warrantless arrest of teacher who posted about 'killing Duterte'
(UPDATED) The prosecutor says the warrantless arrest is invalid, but the defect is cured by the teacher's admission to the media
[OPINION] What do we risk when free speech is suppressed?
'The Philippines and the rest of the world would not be in this mess if we had immediate access to Dr Li's crucial information'
[OPINION] PCOO blocks Gang Badoy on Twitter – that’s unconstitutional
Just like in the United States, the Philippine government’s act of blocking citizens from its social media accounts violate fundamental rights
Hong Kong political crisis deepens despite protest lull during virus
Police arrest 15 prominent activists on charges linked to last year's demonstrations. Those detained were not masked protesters who often violently clashed with police, but rather some of the city's best-known moderates.
Carpio: Facebook post on P2B private jet is protected speech
When is something protected speech, and when is it not?
China expels U.S. journalists in biggest crackdown in years
American journalists at The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal are told to hand back their credentials within 10 days
[OPINION] Pens and placards: On campus journalists as student activists
'To be an activist does not require one to be physically present in rallies and street protests. It can be done through the formidable power of the written word.'
EU rights envoy sounds alarm on Qatar freedom of speech
Publications can be suspended under the law for up to 3 months for printing items deemed against the public interest
YouTube bans 'implied' threats
'We will no longer allow content that maliciously insults someone based on protected attributes such as their race, gender expression, or sexual orientation,' says global head of trust and safety Matt Halprin
Twitter lets users 'hide' off-course replies to tweets
Users are now able to 'hide' tweeted replies that could be seen as abusive or harassing
More than 100,000 hate videos taken down following new policies – YouTube
Views on videos that are later removed for violating policies have been reduced by 80% over the last 18 months according to YouTube
Djokovic reflects on 'unreal' Wimbledon 2019 final victory
The 32-year-old Serbian, winning back-to-back Wimbledon titles for the second time, prevails in an epic duel, the longest ever final and the first decided by a deciding set tie-break
Twitter updates rules, focusing on curbing hate speech against religious groups
Twitter says it will require hateful tweets targeting specific religious groups to be removed, though accounts tweeting such content before the new rules were in place will not be suspended
France's lower house passes online hate speech law
Members of the National Assembly lower house of parliament vote by 434 in favor to 33 against to adopt the law, which is modelled on German legislation that came into force last year.
Merkel's successor sparks freedom of speech uproar
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer later tries to downplay her comments, saying it is 'ridiculous to insinuate that I want to regulate expressions of opinion'
Does Assange indictment set dangerous precedent for journalists?
'What he is accused of doing is exactly what professional journalists do every day – seeking, receiving and publishing important information about our government,' says law professor Sonja West
Citing Iran, Trump bypasses Congress to sell arms to Saudis, UAE
The weapons, which include munitions and aircraft support maintenance, are meant 'to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defense capacity,' says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Maria Ressa accepts Tully Award, says sense of purpose 'sharper'
Rappler's Maria Ressa, recipient of the Tully Award for Free Speech, hopes to 'keep walking until I come out the other side, and hopefully the world is right-side up'
Austria NGO fights hate online, one conversation at a time
Neustart, an organization in Austria, offers a 6-month program that aims to show participants how to 'express one's point of view without denigrating others'
Facebook bars white nationalism, stepping up hate speech curbs
'It's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services,' says Facebook
[EDITORIAL] #AnimatED: A revolution against disinformation
The challenge now is no longer to gather huge crowds at plazas to frighten a dictator and his sycophants. It is to reclaim the online public space from the disinformation monster that President Duterte himself has unleashed.
French far-right weekly barred from Twitter over 'hate speech'
Rivarol's Twitter account 'called for racial hatred and sympathized with crimes against humanity,' a spokesman for the French government's racism, anti-Semitism, and discrimination body says
Bickering opens before Trump's State of the Union speech even begins
A testy exchange between the president and the senior Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, erupts ahead of the State of the Union address
In tears and shock, Poland bids farewell to murdered mayor
"It's hatred that killed Pawel," Civic Platform Party leader Grzegorz Schetyna told lawmakers.
How Facebook is reconfiguring freedom of speech in situations of mass atrocity
Lessons from Myanmar and the Philippines
Vietnam's draconian cybersecurity bill comes into effect
Human rights groups slam the new cybersecurity law, saying that it is a 'pervasive' and 'totalitarian model of information control'
Gabon president to speak publicly for first time since stroke
Gabon President Ali Bongo is set to deliver his speech on New Year's Day, almost 3 months after he suffered from stroke
Bangladesh photographer detained during protests gets bail
Bangladesh court grants bail to award-winning photographer-activist Shahidul Alam after spending more than 100 days behind bars
The lovely secrets of the 'signing' brain
Sign language is another language, and therefore, another rich world, another empowering culture that, like any other language, expands your mind
Duterte says 'overboard' Mocha Uson still has right to free speech
'There are things na tingin ko na medyo nasobrahan,' says President Rodrigo Duterte about controversial assistant secretary Mocha Uson
UN urges Facebook to 'proactively' fight hate speech
UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein urges Facebook to 'be regulated by (international) human rights law'
Facebook move on Myanmar raises thorny political questions
Facebook says they will continue to investigate instances of 'devastating violence' around the world incited by users on the platform
