Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa Calls Facebook An 'Atom Bomb'

By Frances Langum — October 8, 2021

[Above, Maria Ressa is on a Zoom call talking about independent journalism when she learns she has won a Nobel Peace Prize.]

Congratulations to Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, who with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Not to take anything away from Ressa's well-deserved award, BUT...

..the punches just keep coming for Facebook this week.

Ressa is known for her clear-eyed attacks on social media algorithms and their impact on our society's ability to tell truth from lies. As she wrote in 2016 (ahem):

"Facebook's algorithms, created in a black box, are extremely powerful in shaping reality and creating echo chambers that could be harmful to democracy. ...They cater to our weaknesses, what psychologists call cognitive bias – when we unconsciously gravitate towards those who echo what we believe."

Mark Zuckerberg is no match for Maria Ressa. Take a look:

Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa says social media algorithms have introduced "a virus of lies" that she compares to "an atom bomb exploding in our information ecosystem".

She won the prize with Russian counterpart Dmitry Muratov. pic.twitter.com/MTDiLBOcLR

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) October 8, 2021

Last year, at a #TIME100Talks, Ressa, Prince Harry, and Renee DiResta discussed how social media platforms have allowed for the spread of disinformation https://t.co/Fzy6dI0Wr2 pic.twitter.com/IXQ2pz5qJI

— TIME (@TIME) October 8, 2021

Her book comes out next April.

I've been getting up at 5am since April to write before beginning each day's work. It's cathartic, horrific, and very inspiring :) #CourageON #HoldTheLine Thanks, @hollydrawsinink, for cover design & look forward to working together, @hanateraiewood! https://t.co/xuNqTHOwSG pic.twitter.com/RQUlvXnavR

— Maria Ressa (@mariaressa) September 15, 2021

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