UN monitor on press freedom flags PH case

MANILA, Philippines — United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan has warned that freedom of expression is “under attack in multiple ways,” with various states, including the Philippines, increasingly weaponizing speech, criminalizing dissent and restricting access to digital spaces.

A leading media group has weighed in on Khan’s report—particularly as it cites the case of detained journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio—and noted that Philippine laws have also been weaponized against rights advocates and press freedom.

READ: NUJP on World Press Freedom Day: Red-tagging, attacks on media persist

Khan, who will soon end her tenure as UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, submitted her 18-page final report to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

She cited a case in the Philippines, that of Cumpio, and noted how the use of national security, counterterrorism, and similar laws to prosecute the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression has intensified.

Red-tagging cited

“In the Philippines, ‘terrorism financing’ laws have been used against many journalists and human rights defenders, in one case dragging out legal proceedings for five years on dubious evidence while the journalist languished in pretrial detention and eventually received a disproportionately severe punishment,” Khan said, without mentioning the Tacloban-based journalist by name.

Detained since their arrest on Feb. 7, 2020, Cumpio, a community journalist, and human rights advocate Marielle Domequil were convicted in January for financing terrorism and sentenced to imprisonment of 12 to 18 years.

The pair, however, remain behind bars even while their case is under appeal after the Tacloban court denied their bail petition.

During an official visit to the Philippines in 2024 to evaluate the freedom of expression situation in the country, Khan was allowed to meet with Cumpio, Domequil and Alexander Philip Abinguna, another detained human rights advocate, at the Tacloban City Jail.

The UN special rapporteur said their cases underscored the human impact of “Red-tagging” and “a deficient process that provides limited avenues for recourse.”

“The three young adults, who were involved in community journalism, environmental reporting and humanitarian work, were Red-tagged for their civic activism before being arrested and detained for their alleged affiliation with the Communist Party of the Philippines and/or the New People’s Army,” she said in a 2025 report.

Abuse of AI

In a press statement following her final report, Khan also said freedom of expression is “shrinking dramatically” as governments rely on emerging technologies to stifle dissent while major digital platforms manipulate online information for profit.

“Freedom of opinion and expression, a fundamental inalienable human right, has been privatized, monetized, manipulated and unlawfully restricted,” she said.

According to her, the digital revolution has brought major benefits but at the price of rising social costs, harming women through online violence, endangering children via artificial intelligence (AI), undermining journalists’ livelihoods, and weakening public opinion through misinformation and hate.

“AI is running amok. From the highly political to the deeply personal, nothing is out of bounds for new technologies. Innovation at speed with no guardrails is a recipe for disaster,” Khan said.

She observed that some governments deploy AI-powered automated bot networks to disseminate disinformation, hate speech and incitements to violence.

For example, as cited in her report, Canada’s rapid response mechanism found six AI chatbots that amplified leaked personal data of five journalists targeted in a “hack-and-leak” operation linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Recommendations to gov’ts

In a press conference on Thursday, Khan shared some recommendations in dealing with issues concerning freedom of expression.

She cited the need for “coalitions of multistakeholders, not just of governments themselves.”

“Secondly, I’m asking for strengthening of institutions, institutional counterweights, as I put it, and that’s particularly of regulation that is rooted in human rights law,” she said.

Rather than imposing excessive rules, governments should adopt smart regulation based on international human rights law and ensure regulators can operate independently without political interference.

“And also to look at how to reduce the monopoly—the monopoly that in the digital sector, the reliance on large companies must be broken. That must become a priority,” Khan stressed.

She further said that governments must foster an environment where independent, diverse, and pluralistic media can thrive, warning that such conditions are disappearing.

“The diversity and pluralism of media is disappearing. That needs to be brought back because, as you know, media is a very important pillar of democracy,” she said.

NUJP reaction

In a statement on Saturday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) thanked Khan for reiterating in her final report how “terrorism financing laws in the Philippines have been used against many journalists and human rights defenders” and for citing the case of Cumpio and Domequil.

“While many cases against human rights defenders have been dismissed for lack of evidence, it is clear that anti-terror laws are wielded by the Philippine government to silence critical voices. It is high time to assess the impacts of these laws on the exercise of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and opinion,” the group said.

Collusion

The NUJP agreed with Khan’s observations about the collusion between governments and technology oligarchs to repress free speech and spread hate.

READ: Group stands with women in media, politics amid attacks, sexist remarks

“Human rights defenders and journalists have been calling on Meta to regulate posts red-tagging individuals and organizations, but to no avail,” it said.

The NUJP also noted how the Marcos administration has refused to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which, together with state security forces, “continue to Red-tag journalists and activists, ignoring the Supreme Court jurisprudence declaring Red-tagging as a threat to life, liberty and security.”

The group urged the government to implement Khan’s recommendations following her 2024 visit, including the decriminalization of libel, passage of a freedom of information law, a clear-cut policy against Red-tagging and a review of anti-terror laws. /atm