Faces of the News: Joshua Molo

Netizens this week expressed outrage over what they described as “a violation of people’s right to free expression,” and the government “weaponizing” the law against dissenters.

The subject of their support is Joshua Molo, 20, editor in chief of the University of the East student paper, UE Dawn.

In a Facebook post, Molo recalled the events that led to his public apology over posts criticizing the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that, he said, ignored the needs of poor families like his.

Barangay officials in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, had invited him to a mediation meeting on April 5 because of a blotter complaint over his Instagram posts critical of the administration, Molo recounted.

A former teacher said he could either issue a video of a public apology and swear never to criticize government again in his posts, or face arrest and detention for cyberlibel and the forfeiture of his scholarship.

Fear over the threats and the possibility of being Red-tagged by the police made him sign the blotter report, Molo said, adding that despite the apology, he would “continue [his] advocacy for the public’s right to free expression and information.“