In a late scheduling change, Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257 / Cell C black 503) will now broadcast Maria Ressa: War on Truth tonight in its Witness strand timeslot on Monday morning, 18 February 00:30, following the Filipino journalist and Rappler editor's shocking arrest this week.
The special Maria Ressa: War on Truth will repeat in the week on Al Jazeera on Monday 18 February at 11:30, 19 February at 05:30, 20 February at 18:30 and 21 February at 07:30 (all times South Africa).
"It's the battle of our age. Facebook and other social media giants are being manipulated by governments and corporations, weakening democracies," says Al Jazeera of the documentary special.
"No country epitomises the consequences of this battle more so than the Philippines. No individual personifies the struggle against it more so than Maria Ressa."
Maria Ressa is the editor of Rappler, a digital news outlet that flourished under Facebook, and she now says is being crushed by it as the government uses it to shut down its critics.
She runs what she calls the "Shark Tank", one of the largest independent databases of Facebook accounts and comments that is tracking 15 million accounts propagating disinformation on social media and that are used to control debate globally.
"While she lobbies social media giants to become more accountable abroad, she’s facing legal battles at home, with her government trying to jail her, shut her outlet down and silence dissent.
Al Jazeera follows Maria Ressa while she fights at the frontlines of what she calls "the war on truth and to prevent democracies from failing not only in her country but also worldwide".
Filipino journalist Maria Ressa’s arrest on 13 February 2019 sparked condemnation around the world.
In this new Al Jazeera Witness film, the documentary gains intimate access to Maria and follow her fight on the frontlines of what she calls the "war on truth" Maria takes viewers into Rappler, the digital-only news platform she co-founded in 2012 that flourishes by sharing much of its content via Facebook.
Maria Ressa also travels to Paris, France, where she speaks at the inaugural congregation of the Information and Democracy Commission, spearheaded by Reporters Without Borders, and attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In 2016 Maria Ressa started to notice a rise in accounts extolling the virtues of the government, or a particular policy around the time of its announcement. She also saw dissenters being trolled.
This prompted her and her team to create possibly the largest data set outside of Facebook, called the "Shark Tank" to monitor these accounts. What she found alarmed her.
She presented her findings to Facebook ahead of American president Donald Trump’s election in the United States.
Facebook ignored her - until after the election. Then Facebook requested the data again and used it to shut down 30 000 fake accounts ahead of the French elections in 2017. She says without this information, Emmanuel Macron may not have been elected. What’s more, the US elections may have turned out differently, if used sooner.
Maria Ressa says autocratic rulers can view social media with suspicion because it allows dissenters to mobilise quickly, but now they realise they can use it to manipulate debate and undermine democracy.
