By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Senator Risa Hontiveros condemned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s order to shut down online news website Rappler on Wednesday, June 29.
Hontiveros called it “truly deplorable” that the current administration “continues to find new ways of threatening legitimate news organizations not to exercise press freedom.”
“And while many registered news outfits are being crushed, unaccountable and insensitive vloggers and internet journalists have been given accreditation to cover the most important events in government. This only sows distrust and cultivates a tame coverage,” she said in a statement.
The senator stressed that the country needs “critical, honest, and facts-based journalism.”
She added that she will “fight for freedom of the press.”
“Silencing important media voices like Rappler, and ABS-CBN before it, not only affects the flow of information for the day. These assaults on independent press and other perceived ‘threats’ also chip away at our democracy,” she said. -ag
