Rappler CEO Maria Ressa faces the media following her acquittal of the fifth and final tax evasion charge against her and Rappler Holdings Corp at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on September 12, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA -- Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa warned Wednesday of "extremely dangerous times ahead" in an interview with AFP after social media giant Meta ended its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram.

Ressa and the Rappler news site she co-founded have spent years fighting online disinformation while battling court cases filed under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte after critical reporting of his deadly drug war.

The veteran journalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 said Meta's decision meant "extremely dangerous times ahead" for journalism, democracy and social media users.

READ: Meta abruptly ends US fact-checks ahead of Trump term

"Mark Zuckerberg says it's a free speech issue -- that's completely wrong," Ressa told AFP at Rappler's newsroom in Manila.

"Only if you're profit driven can you claim that; only if you want power and money can you claim that. This is about safety."

Meta's announcement on Tuesday was seen by analysts as an attempt by Zuckerberg to appease US President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration this month.

Trump has been a harsh critic of Meta and Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.

Fact-checking and disinformation research have long been a hot-button issue in a hyperpolarized political climate in the United States, with conservative US advocates saying they were a tool to curtail free speech and censor right-wing content.

Ressa, who is also a US citizen, rejected Zuckerberg's assertion that fact-checkers had become "too politically biased" and "destroyed more trust than they've created".

READ: Disinformation experts slam Meta decision to end US fact-checking

WATCH: Meta to remove fact-checkers, eyes ‘Community Notes' moderation

"Journalists have a set of standards and ethics," Ressa told AFP.

"What Facebook is going to do is get rid of that and then allow lies, anger, fear and hate to infect every single person on the platform."

Meta's actions would lead to a "world without facts" and "that's a world that's right for a dictator", Ressa warned.

Rappler is one of the partners working with Facebook's fact-checking program.

AFP also currently works in 26 languages with Facebook's fact-checking program, in which Facebook pays to use fact-checks from around 80 organisations globally on its platform, WhatsApp and on Instagram.

In a statement shared with AFP, Rappler said it intends to continue working with Facebook "to protect fellow Filipinos from manipulation and the dangers of disinformation".

"What has happened in the US is just the beginning," Rappler said.

"It is an ominous sign of more perilous times in the fight to preserve and protect our individual agency and shared reality."

Ressa vowed to do everything she could to "ensure information integrity".

"This is a pivotal year for journalism survival," Ressa said.

"We'll do all we can to make sure that happens."

© Agence France-Presse

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