“Hope is born of action”: Maria Ressa and her call to truth in times of crisis”.

Maria Ressa, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, gave a powerful speech at the Jubilee of the World Communications Jubilee held at the Vatican from January 24-26, 2025. In a global context of increasing polarization and misinformation, Ressa made an impassioned call for collective action to preserve truth, justice and democracy.

“Hope is not passive; it is active, relentless and strategic,” she said.said the Philippine journalist, stressing that the current moment calls for a determined commitment to confront the threats facing the world, especially in the field of communications and technology.

The crisis of truth in the digital era

Ressa described how technology, far from being a simple instrument of connection, has become a tool of mass manipulation. “Big Tech transformed social networks from a means of connection to a weapon of mass behavioral engineering,”, he explained, adding that digital platforms have monetized hate, amplified division and eroded people’s ability to think in a nuanced and empathetic way.

Citing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, he recalled that lies spread six times faster than the truth on social networks. “Without facts, there is no truth. Without truth, there is no trust. And without trust, we have no shared reality.”He warned that this information crisis endangers not only democracies, but also fundamental human rights.

The personal price of telling the truth

Ressa shared moments from her own struggle as a journalist in the Philippines, where she faced massive hate campaigns on social media and multiple arrests under an authoritarian government. “My government gifted me my first arrest warrant on Valentine’s Day 2019”, he recalled wryly. Despite the odds, he continued to stand up for the truth:

“Courage is speaking up when silence is safest; building bridges when walls seem easiest; and standing up for the truth, even when you feel the world is against you.”

Four actions to heal the world

Addressing the attendees, Ressa offered an action plan to combat misinformation and rebuild trust:

Collaborate: “Build and strengthen trust now to close society’s fault lines.”
2. Speak with moral clarity: “Silence in the face of injustice is complicity. Demand transparency and accountability.”
3. Protect the most vulnerable: “Support journalists, human rights defenders and marginalized communities.”
4. Recognize your power: “Peacebuilding is not reserved for heroes; it is the collective work of those who refuse to accept lies.”

A message of hope and unity

Throughout her speech, Maria Ressa emphasized the importance of faith, shared values and the concept of Ubuntu: “I am because we are.” According to Ressa, this principle can be an antidote to the divisions fueled by technology. “Where Big Tech rewards the worst in us, Ubuntu teaches us that our destinies are interconnected,”he said.

With a final message charged with hope, Ressa urged participants to act now, aware that their decisions now will define the future.

“This time matters. What we choose to do matters. We can allow the fault lines to break or we can work to heal these divisions.”

The World Communications Jubilee thus became a space not only for reflection, but also for inspiration for collective action, recalling that, as Ressa said, “hope is born of action.”

Antonio Carrón de la Torre, OAR