Nobel Peace-winning journalist accuses Facebook of ‘biased against facts’

Filipino Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has criticized the social networking site Facebook, calling it a threat to democracy and biased against facts, adding that it is unable to prevent hate speech and misinformation.

“Facebook’s algorithms prioritize spreading anger and hate lies over facts,” the journalist and director of the Philippine news website Rappler said in an interview with Reuters, after the award was announced.
“Facebook has become one of the largest distributors of news in the world, but it is biased against facts and against journalism,” Ressa added.

In her words, she referred to the pressures faced by Facebook, which is used by more than 3 billion people, recently after a former employee of the company was turned into a snitch and accused the company of “prioritizing profits over combating hate speech and the spread of misinformation.”

Resa has been the target of intense hate campaigns on social media by supporters of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who she says are aimed at destroying the reputation of her news site.

Facebook denies any wrongdoing. A Facebook representative in the Philippines did not respond to requests for comment on Ressa’s comments.