Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation to cyber-libel judge: "KAYANG I-GOOGLE 'to, Your Honor." In joint statement, national network of journalists, academics & civil society reps condemns guilty verdict, says reasoning is based on falsehood, ignorance #DefendPressFreedom 
"The Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation condemns the unjust, uncomprehending, unconstitutional decision in the cyber-libel case against Maria Ressa, Reynaldo Santos Jr., and Rappler."
"The decision was UNCOMPREHENDING, because the language of the decision proved that the court failed to understand how journalism works and what its role in a democratic setting is." #DefendPressFreedom #HoldTheLine
Eg, the judge wrote: “To the mind of the Court, Rappler’s scheme of not using the term ‘editor-in-chief’ in its organizational structure is a clever ruse to avoid liability of the officers of the news organization ...They used the nomenclature ‘executive editor’ instead."
"The judge should have Googled. The top editors of @nytimes, @washingtonpost, @inquirerdotnet & many other news sites around the world are called ‘executive editor.’ It is so commonplace that to say it's 'a clever ruse' shows her unfamiliarity with journalism." #HoldTheLine
"The decision was UNCONSTITUTIONAL ... when free speech & freedom of the press are at issue, the bar for considering any restriction must be set very high—not because journalists are privileged persons, but because the freedoms at stake are used by everyone." #DefendPressFreedom
"In ruling against a news org on flimsy grounds, and in extending the coverage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act backward in time, Judge Estacio-Montesa helped turn the rule of law into a weapon—and puts us, every single one of us who uses online and social media, in peril."
"The decision was UNJUST, because the crux of the court’s reasoning was based on a falsehood. For the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which became law in September 2012, to apply to the story published 4 months before, the court had to resort to the legal doctrine of republication."
“'The court considers the update a republication of the article.' But Rappler testified that it was only a mere correction of a misspelling: “evasion” had been spelled “evation.” Judge Estacio-Montesa sweeps this all away with an appalling display of ignorance:" #HoldTheLine
The judge wrote: "'the original article published on 29 May 2012 can no longer be found. Only the 19 February 2014 version presently exists and [is] accessible on the internet.' But this is false. In fact the original article can still be found" through the Wayback Machine.
"Despite quoting the great Nelson Mandela, Judge Estacio-Montesa through her decision has set us back on our own long walk to freedom." #DefendPressFreedom #HoldTheLine
