Duterte slammed for barring Philippine news site from his events

Manila (AFP) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's move to ban a critical news website from covering the presidential palace is a threat to press freedom, rights and media groups said on Wednesday.

Rappler, set up in 2012, is among a clutch of Philippine news organisations that have sparred with Duterte over their critical coverage of his drug war which the government says has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 suspects.

Human rights groups charge that thousands more have been killed by shadowy vigilantes.

Duterte's spokesman said the president had decided to bar Rappler journalists from covering his events due to a "lack of trust".

US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch said the move "threatens media freedoms".

"It could portend a broader assault on journalists and news organizations, whose critical watchdog role has magnified the government's poor human rights record," it said in a statement.

The move came as the site also faced state-enforced closure, after the government's corporate regulator last month alleged that Rappler violated a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of local media.

Source: Yahoo News