CFWIJ Joins 60 Organizations To Back Maria Ressa’s #HoldTheLine Campaign

Date: July 9, 2020

The Coalition For Women In Journalism has participated in a global press freedom campaign - #HoldTheLine - to support Maria Ressa and condemn her conviction by a court in Manila.

We strongly denounce the lawfare against Maria, who is known for her courageous journalism not only within the Southeast Asian region but internationally too - given her past experience in the American press.

The government in the Philippines, especially under the administration of President Duterte, continues to weaponize the law against journalists and independent press. Maria’s conviction has now become one of the most emblematic cases of press freedom in the world.

Maria and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr have both been released on bail pending appeal. However, they are still at a risk of facing imprisonment if the conviction is not overturned.

To condemn this misuse of law punishing a journalist and to ensure freedom of the press in the region, 60 press freedom groups, civil society organizations and advocates of free press – referred to as the #HoldTheLine Coalition – have come together in this campaign, which furthers Maria’s commitment to ‘hold the line’ against state oppression and violence. The campaign also focuses on raising voice against the malicious online campaigns against Maria, who continues to speak truth to power.

CFWIJ has been following Maria’s case from the beginning. We have monitored the proceedings and have continued to note the barrage of accusations against her. Our recent report on Maria’s conviction looks at the reasons why she was accused initially, along with comments by her colleagues and advocates of press freedom in the region. We also condemned Maria and her colleagues' conviction decision imposed on June 15.

CFWIJ has also developed a dedicated webpage documenting the timeline of Maria’s case, along with reports, statements, reading material, resources and threads to relevant tweets. Read our statement condemning Maria’s arrest in the ‘cyber libel’ case in February 2019.

#HoldTheLine campaign launched in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines.

Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine.

Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced the launch of the #HoldTheLine campaign in support of journalist Maria Ressa and independent media under attack in the Philippines. Acting in coordination with Ressa and her legal team, representatives from the three groups form the steering committee, working alongside dozens of partners on the global campaign and reporting initiatives. The campaign takes its name from Ressa's commitment to 'hold the line' in response to sustained state harassment and prolific online violence.

An internationally celebrated Filipino-American journalist, Ressa is best known for two decades covering South East Asia for CNN and founding the multi-award winning Philippines news website Rappler. On 15 June 2020, she was convicted of “cyber-libel,” alongside former Rappler colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr -- a criminal charge for which they face up to six years in prison. The conviction relates to a story about corruption from 2012 - before the law was even enacted - and hung on the correction of a typo.

Ressa and Santos both posted bail, but could be imprisoned if the case is not overturned on appeal. Ressa is facing at least six other cases and charges. Guilty verdicts in all of them could result in her spending nearly a century in jail. Rappler is also implicated in most of these cases, with several involving criminal charges related to libel, foreign ownership, and taxes. The convictions are the latest offense in the Duterte government’s wider campaign to stifle independent reporting, including the recent shutdown of the main national broadcaster ABS-CBN.

"I am moved by the incredible outpouring of support we’ve received from around the globe for our campaign to #HoldTheLine against tyranny - even as President Duterte continues his public attacks on me, the legal harassment escalates, and the state-licenced and Facebook-fuelled online violence rages on. We can't stay silent because silence is consent," Ressa said. "We need to be outraged, to fight back with journalism. If we don't use our rights, we will lose them. Please stand with us!"

Those interested in showing support and helping to #HoldTheLine can take two immediate steps in the run-up to Ressa’s next hearing scheduled on 22 July:

1. Join the #HoldTheLine coalition by getting in touch via the contacts below.

2. Sign and share this petition calling for the Philippine government to drop all charges and cases against Ressa, Santos and Rappler, and end pressure on independent media in the Philippines.

The 60 founding members of the #HoldTheLine Coalition are:

1. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

2. The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)

3. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

4. African Media Initiative

5. Association for International Broadcasting (AIB)

6. Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom

7. Amnesty International

8. ARTICLE 19

9. Association of Caribbean Media Workers

10. Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma

11. Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM)

12. Centre for Law and Democracy

13. CineDiaz

14. The Coalition For Women In Journalism

15. Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE)

16. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

17. DART Asia Pacific

18. Dart Center

19. Doc Society

20. English PEN

21. European Journalism Centre

22. First Look Media

23. Free Press Unlimited

24. Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG)

25. Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

26. Global Voices

27.  Graduate School of Journalism

28. Index on Censorship

29. Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI)

30. International Media Support (IMS)

31. International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)

32. International News Safety Institute (INSI)

33. International Press Institute (IPI)

34. International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF)

35. James W. Foley Legacy Foundation

36. Judith Neilson Institute

37. Justice for Journalists Foundation

38. Media Association for Peace (MAP)

39. Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)

40. Namibia Media Trust (NMT)

41. National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)

42. Pakistan Press Foundation

43. Panos Institute Southern Africa

44. PEN America

45. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ)

46. Press Freedom Defence Fund

47. Project Syndicate

48. Public Media Alliance

49. Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

50. Rappler

51. Rory Peck Trust

52. Rural Media Network Pakistan

53. South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF)

54. Storyhunter

55. The Signals Network

56. Tanzania Media Practitioners Association

57. Union of Journalists in Finland,

58. World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)

59. World Editors Forum

60. Columbia University

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.