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Maria Ressa – How to Stand Up to a Dictator
September 13, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Nobel Peace Prize laureate, SFU Honorary Degree recipient and renowned journalist Maria Ressa on how democracy dies by a thousand cuts.
Renowned investigative journalist Maria Ressa received the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her fearless defense of press freedom and democracy in the Philippines as CEO and co-founder of Rappler, an online news site. For her critical reporting of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s government and policies, she faces multiple lawsuits and potentially over 100 years in prison yet remains resolved in her fight to speak truth to power.
Now, in her forthcoming book How to Stand up to a Dictator, Maria Ressa maps out a global network of disinformation from Duterte’s drug wars, to America’s Capitol Hill, to Britain’s Brexit, to Russian cyberwarfare to Silicon Valley and beyond.
“How to Stand Up to a Dictator is the story of how democracy dies by a thousand cuts, and how an invisible atom bomb has exploded online that is killing our freedoms.”
Join us at this SFU Vancouver Speaker Series event where Maria Ressa will discuss the threat disinformation campaigns pose to our increasingly polarized democracies. Ressa will also be formally presented with her honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University by SFU President Joy Johnson.
Peter Klein, Professor with the UBC School of Journalism, Writing, and Media and Executive Director of the Global Reporting Centre will provide opening remarks. Santa Ono, President of the University of British Columbia will give closing remarks. Wade Grant (Musqueam First Nation) will begin this event and offer a welcome.
This SFU Vancouver Speaker Series event is presented in partnership by SFU Vancouver, SFU Public Square, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, the Digital Democracies Institute, Ouano Foundation, the University of British Columbia and the Global Reporting Centre.
SFU Vancouver Speaker Series
The SFU Vancouver Speaker Series brings global experts to a local audience. Launched in 2012, the series builds on SFU’s rich history of community engagement by exploring critical issues to contribute to better understanding among Vancouver’s citizens through an intellectually enriching experience.
Register here. Note that there are reserved tickets for DDI affiliates, so contact ddi_comms@sfu.ca to reserve your space if you are affiliated.
This event is in person at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, and there is a livestream option.
This event is organized in partnership with SFU Vancouver, SFU Public Square, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, the Digital Democracies Institute, Ouano Foundation, the University of British Columbia and the Global Reporting Centre.