Is the Judiciary Captured?

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Rai Rai: Is the judiciary captured? This is a question i ask myself all the time. We're even just talking bout the philippines, and were we haven't even got into the full global south. It's irresponsible to have power that causes harm beyond the scope at which you become aware of it. And so here we are. You've just come from a week in silokan valley. Your message is not heardb by them. If you're in denial, the longer you're in deny, the worse it will getas it ates at you when you go to sleep at night.

[This episode originally aired on November 5, 2019] Maria Ressa is arguably one of the bravest journalists working in the Philippines today. As co-founder and CEO of the media site Rappler, she has withstood death threats, multiple arrests and a rising tide of populist fury that she first saw on Facebook, in the form of a strange and jarring personal attack. Through her story, she reveals, play by play, how an aspiring strongman can use social media to spread falsehoods, sow confusion, intimidate critics and subvert democratic institutions. Nonetheless, she argues Silicon Valley can reverse these trends, and fast. First, tech companies must "wake up," she says, to the threats they've unleashed throughout the Global South. Second, they must recognize that social media is intrinsically designed to favor the strongman over the lone dissident and the propagandist over the truth-teller, which is why it has become the central tool in every aspiring dictator's playbook.