How OVP's media rebuke can trigger harassment

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is urging public officials to take their complaints directly to newsrooms rather than airing their grievances publicly — a move the group's chairperson says can embolden online harassment against journalists.

- Cristina Chi/Philstar.com

The call comes after Vice President Sara Duterte's office issued a flurry of public rebukes from June 26 to July 2 of two broadsheets and a news anchor over stories it claimed contained misquotes and false claims.

While acknowledging the media has a duty to correct its mistakes, NUJP chairperson Jonathan de Santos cautioned that censures by officials with large followings often become dog whistles for online mobs.

"Public statements on supposed errors, especially when done by public officials with large and very enthusiastic followings sends a signal — intentionally or not — for their supporters to troll or harass news staff who produced the story," De Santos told Philstar.com.

In some cases, such acts have led to doxxing—exposing one's private information—and other threats against journalists, the NUJP chairperson said.