Online violence against women human rights defenders, activists, and journalists has reached a critical level, threatening to exclude women from digital spaces.<\/p>\n
According to a 2025 UN Women<\/a> report, the absence of strong countermeasures also poses a risk to undermining democracy and freedom of expression.<\/p>\n The report presents<\/a> findings of a survey covering more than 640 women respondents from 119 countries.<\/p>\n Forty-one percent of respondents reported<\/a> experiencing offline harm \u2014 such as physical attacks, stalking, or verbal harassment \u2014 which they directly attributed to online abuse.<\/p>\n In the Philippines, recent data from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) reveal<\/a> that 73 percent of women journalists have experienced online violence. Only 10 percent say<\/a> they have never faced physical intimidation or abuse. More than half (54 percent) report<\/a> being blackmailed by sources.<\/p>\n Well-known cases involving Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and journalists Ellen Tordesillas, Regine Cabato, Joann Manabat, and Lian Buan illustrate<\/a> how coordinated online harassment can escalate to legal persecution and physical violence.<\/p>\n These cases have also brought<\/a> public attention to the dangers of online harassment.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) Secretary General Agn\u00e8s Callamard launched<\/a> the organization\u2019s annual assessment in Manila on April 21, 2026. She warned<\/a> that the current state of human rights worldwide is a \u201cdirect assault\u201d on the foundations of human rights and the international rules-based order.<\/p>\n In its 2025-2026 report on the Philippines, the organization described<\/a> a troubling year defined by widespread arrests and detentions, including of children, following protests against corruption in flood-control projects.<\/p>\n The report also mentioned<\/a> the continued use of anti-terrorism laws by government authorities to target development and humanitarian workers, journalists, and activists. At least four journalists were killed<\/a> during the reporting period, underscoring ongoing threats to press freedom.<\/p>\n The report called<\/a> attention to the cases of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and development worker Marielle Domequil, both detained for more than five years on fabricated charges; Cumpio and Domequil were convicted<\/a> of terrorism financing in January 2026.<\/p>\n The Philippines ranks<\/a> 114th in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The decline in the security score from 61.57 to 54.03 shows<\/a> a transition from a more apparent war on media of the previous decade to a more insidious and administrative form of violence imposed on community journalists today.<\/p>\n Despite the change in administration, the state continues to label<\/a> journalists as terrorists (so-called “red-tagging”). This practice places a target on reporters who face trumped-up charges to silence their coverage of human rights abuses in marginalized sectors.<\/p>\n Philippine political polarisation has led<\/a> to disinformation flooding the spaces people go to for information, especially social media. Fake accounts spread on social media platforms with false information that then influences online debate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n