Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa Calls Facebook An 'Atom Bomb'

Her prize is "a recognition of how we're going to win the battle for truth," she said.
By Frances Langum — October 8, 2021

[Above, Maria Ressa is on a Zoom call talking about independent journalism when she learns she has won a Nobel Peace Prize.]

Congratulations to Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, who with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Not to take anything away from Ressa's well-deserved award, BUT...

..the punches just keep coming for Facebook this week.

Ressa is known for her clear-eyed attacks on social media algorithms and their impact on our society's ability to tell truth from lies. As she wrote in 2016 (ahem):

"Facebook's algorithms, created in a black box, are extremely powerful in shaping reality and creating echo chambers that could be harmful to democracy. ...They cater to our weaknesses, what psychologists call cognitive bias – when we unconsciously gravitate towards those who echo what we believe."

Mark Zuckerberg is no match for Maria Ressa. Take a look:

Her book comes out next April.

Can you help us out?

For over 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but social media is limiting our ability to attract new readers. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Become a subscriber:
 
Make a donation:

If you don't mind the ads and would rather donate, please select one of the options below:

Kindest
Donate via PayPal
Via Snail Mail
payable to: Crooksandliars
528 Palisades Drive
Ste 548
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon