Claim

Claim 971

Governor-General William Howard Taft justified the libel law's passage by saying Filipinos were a strange people unused to the freedom of the press.

Published 2026-09-26. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. 1 source.

Statement: Governor-General William Howard Taft justified the libel law's passage by saying Filipinos were a strange people unused to the freedom of the press.
Field: stated_justification
Value: Taft says Filipinos unused to press freedom
About: incident 1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento
Source: A relic of colonial rule
Publisher: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Method: outlet report
Checked: 2026-09-26
Confidence: medium
Status: current
Source date: 2014-02-24

Quotation from the source

Governor General William Howard Taft justified its passage by saying that Filipinos are “a strange people unused to the freedom of the press.”