Maria Ressa

CEO and President — Rappler

About Maria Ressa

Key facts Role: Chief executive officer and president Organisation: Rappler Country: Philippines Sector: Media On 3 September, Maria Ressa told the Nobel Peace Conference that "the only way you have information integrity is for journalists to become tech builders." Two months earlier, on 3 July, the board of Rappler, the Manila digital newsroom she co-founded, re-elected her as president. In the same year the long legal campaign against her has largely unravelled. In a resolution dated January 2026 and made public in April, the Supreme Court closed the government's attempt to shut Rappler down. In March the Solicitor General asked the court to acquit her in her last major criminal case. Ressa, a 2021 Nobel Peace laureate, enters late 2026 freer to act than at any time in a decade. She is using it to argue that newsrooms must own the technology that distributes their work. The role As chief executive and president of Rappler, she sets the strategy of one of the Philippines' best-known independent newsrooms. Its board added a former Microsoft Philippines chief executive, Peter Maquera, in July. Rappler's most distinctive recent project is technological. After years of online attacks it built its own chat application on the open Matrix protocol, a project later extended to other media groups, Rappler reported. Ressa has warned that AI-driven search is cutting referrals to publishers and that news organisations could "die in the next five to eight months" without new models. “the only way you have information integrity is for journalists to become tech builders.” — Ressa, at the Nobel Peace Conference on 3 September Background Born in Manila in 1963 and raised partly in the United States, Ressa studied at Princeton University and the University of the Philippines Diliman. From 1995 she worked as a CNN correspondent covering the growth of terrorism in South-East Asia. In 2012 she co-founded Rappler. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's prize, shared with Russia's Dmitry Muratov, cited her work exposing abuse of power and Rappler's documentation of how social media is used to spread falsehoods and manipulate public discourse. The cases The status of the cases against her is as follows. On tax, she and Rappler Holdings were acquitted of four tax-evasion charges by the Court of Tax Appeals in January 2023. A Pasig regional trial court acquitted them of the fifth and final charge in September 2023, ruling that they "did not commit the offense charged," GMA News reported. On Rappler's corporate status, the Securities and Exchange Commission had revoked Rappler's incorporation papers in 2018 over alleged breaches of foreign-ownership limits, and affirmed that in 2022. The Court of Appeals nullified the revocation in 2024. In a resolution dated 20 January 2026 and made public on 2 April, the Supreme Court declared the case "closed and terminated" after the Solicitor General withdrew its bid to appeal, GMA News and the Inquirer reported. On cyber libel, a Manila trial court convicted Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr in June 2020 on a complaint by businessman Wilfredo Keng. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in 2022, and the case is on appeal at the Supreme Court. In a manifestation filed on 9 March 2026, the Office of the Solicitor General recommended acquittal, GMA News and Philstar reported. It argued the complaint was filed after the one-year prescription period for cyber libel, citing Causing v. People, Rappler reported. In a ruling announced on 20 April 2026, the Supreme Court, sitting en banc and voting 8-7, upheld the Causing ruling that cyber libel prescribes in one year and denied motions to reconsider it with finality, Rappler and Philstar reported. As of 29 September LSN has found no report of a final Supreme Court decision in Ressa's appeal. She has said she believes the cases were used to muzzle her critical reporting, AP reported in 2023. Her lawyer, Amal Clooney, said in April that she hoped the courts would resolve "the remaining cases against Maria" in line with press freedom. Regional influence Ressa's regional influence rests on agenda-setting more than institutional muscle. She is one of the most recognised voices in Asia on disinformation, platform power and AI. What to watch: the Supreme Court's ruling on the cyber libel appeal, whether Rappler's own-technology strategy produces a sustainable business model, and whether other newsrooms adopt the Matrix-based infrastructure. Ressa ranks 39th because her global agenda-setting power on press freedom and AI is exceptional. It is not matched by budget or formal authority. Sources GMA News, OSG pushes for acquittal of Maria Ressa, Reynaldo Santos , Mar 2026 Philstar, SolGen recommends acquittal of Ressa, researcher over libel charge , 10 Mar 2026 Rappler, Action vs cyber libel must be made within 1 year, not 15 years — SC , 20 Apr 2026 Philstar, SC rules on filing of cyber libel cases , 22 Apr 2026 GMA News, Supreme Court ends case on SEC order to revoke Rappler's incorporation papers , 2 Apr 2026 Inquirer, SC ends decade-long case to shut down Rappler , 2 Apr 2026 Rappler, Maria Ressa: Journalists must build, own technology to protect information integrity , 6 Sep 2026 Rappler, Rappler's 2026 Board of Directors , 11 Aug 2026 Rappler, SolGen asks SC to acquit Maria Ressa, Reynaldo Santos Jr. in cyber libel case , 10 Mar 2026 Supreme Court of the Philippines (en banc), Causing v. People, G.R. No. 258524, Resolution 8 Apr 2026 GMA News, Pasig court acquits Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, Rappler of tax evasion , 12 Sep 2023 AP, Nobel winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion though she faces 2 more legal cases , 12 Sep 2023 NobelPrize.org, Maria Ressa facts

Why this entry is on the list

Ressa ranks 39th because her global agenda-setting power on press freedom and AI is exceptional. It is not matched by budget or formal authority. As chief executive and president of Rappler, which she co-founded in 2012, she sets the strategy of one of the Philippines' best-known independent newsrooms.