Philippine Nobel winner Ressa calls Facebook 'biased against facts'

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa used her new prominence to criticize Facebook as a threat to democracy, saying the social media giant fails to protect against the spread of hate and disinformation and is 'biased against facts.'

The veteran journalist and head of Philippine news site Rappler told Reuters in an interview after winning the award that Facebook's algorithms "prioritize the spread of lies laced with anger and hate over facts."

Her comments add to the pile of recent pressure on Facebook, used by more than 3 billion people, which a former employee turned whistleblower accused of putting profit over the need to curb hate speech and misinformation. Facebook denies any wrongdoing.

Sought for comment on Ressa's remarks, a Facebook spokesperson said the social media giant continues to invest heavily to remove and reduce the visibility of harmful content.

"We believe in press freedom and support news organizations and journalists around the world as they continue their important work," the spokesperson added.