Claim: Facebook post claims Maria Ressa was sentenced to 15 years for cyber libel.
Rating: FALSE
The Facts: Facebook user Israel Ponce published a post under a page called The Marcos-Duterte Chronicles claiming that Rappler CEO and journalist Maria Ressa was sentenced to 15 years in jail for cyber libel.
The image in the post features Maria Ressa in what seems to be an arrest booking procedure. The photo, however, is from 2019, when the journalist was arrested for a different case.
As of July 8, The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of both Ressa and Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. after the cyber libel charges pressed by businessman Wilfredo Keng in 2017.
The CA decision may have been linked to an article suggesting that Keng may have been involved in alleged human trafficking and drug smuggling.
If convicted, both may be punished by a maximum of 7 years of jail time. However, since cyber libel is a bailable offense, Ressa and Santos are still entitled to post-conviction bail despite the CA decision.
Why we fact-check this: As of July 29, the Facebook post has reached over 1,400 reactions and 114 shares. Misinformation this widespread can cause severe damage to one’s reputation.
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