Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital-only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rappler’s CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail eleven times to stay free. Rappler’s battle for truth and democracy is the subject of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A Thousand Cuts.

For her courage and journalistic integrity, Maria has received numerous accolades. In October 2021, she was one of two journalists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”

In 2022, she was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to the Leadership Panel of the Internet Governance Forum and serves as its Vice-Chair.

In March 2026, she was selected by the United Nations to sit on the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and serves as its Co-Chair.

She is a Professor of Practice at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she co-leads the Technology & Democracy Initiative at the Institute of Global Politics.

Maria authored Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda’s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and From Bin Laden to Facebook. Her most recent book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, reached #3 on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Her upcoming book, its how-to companion, The Fight Back: A Citizen’s Guide to Standing Up to Dictators, releases the week of October 12: on US bookshelves on October 13, 2026 and on UK and Commonwealth bookshelves on October 15, 2026.

Maria focuses critical attention on the breakdown of our global information ecosystem and how interconnected communities of action can hold the line to protect democratic values.