SWS: Most Pinoys find freedom of speech 'very strong' under Duterte

ABS-CBN News

<h3>But half of Pinoys believe printing, broadcasting anything critical vs gov’t ‘dangerous’</h3>MANILA—Nearly 3 out of 5 Filipinos believe that they can speak &quot;openly and without fear&quot; even if it is against government, according to the <a href="https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20190803133042">latest survey</a> released by Social Weather Stations (SWS) Saturday.The pollster found that 59 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement: &quot;I can say anything I want, openly and without fear, even if it is against the administration.&quot;Meanwhile, 18 percent disagreed and 23 percent were undecided.This yielded a net agreement score of plus-41, classified by SWS as &quot;very strong.&quot; It was 18 points above the &quot;moderate&quot; plus-23 net score recorded in December 2018.In the same survey, SWS found that 51 percent of Pinoys agreed that printing or broadcasting anything critical of the administration is &quot;dangerous . . . even if it is the truth.&quot; Meanwhile, 20 percent believe otherwise, and 29 percent were undecided.Despite this, 67 percent of those surveyed affirmed that &quot;mass media in the Philippines have freedom of speech, of expression and of press,&quot; while 10 percent disagreed and 23 percent were undecided.SWS conducted the survey from June 22 to 26, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.Media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in 2018 said Filipino journalists continued to face online harassment, violence and various threats.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/02/19/better-or-worse-the-state-of-philippine-media-according-to-watchdogs">Better or worse? The state of Philippine media according to watchdogs</a></li></ul>

Nearly 3 out of 5 Filipinos believe that they can speak "openly and without fear" even if it is against government.

Nearly 3 out of 5 Filipinos believe that they can speak "openly and without fear" even if it is against government.

SWS: Most Pinoys find freedom of speech 'very strong' under Duterte | ABS-CBN

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SWS: Most Pinoys find freedom of speech 'very strong' under Duterte

SWS: Most Pinoys find freedom of speech 'very strong' under Duterte

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 03, 2019 07:10 PM PHT

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Updated Aug 04, 2019 12:59 AM PHT

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