# 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](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento)
- Source: A relic of colonial rule. https://cmfr-phil.org/inmediasres/luis-teodoro/a-relic-of-colonial-times-2/
- 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.”

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/971. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.