She was included in Time's Person of the Year 2018 issue featuring a collection of journalists from around the world actively combatting fake news.

On February 13, 2019, she was arrested by Philippine authorities for cyberlibel due to accusations that Rappler published a false news story concerning businessman Wilfredo Keng.

On June 15, 2020, a court in Manila found her guilty of cyberlibel[4][5] under the controversial Anti-Cybercrime law,[6][7] a move condemned by human rights groups and journalists as an attack on press freedom.

Her mother, Hermelina, then moved to the United States, leaving Ressa and her sister with their father's family, but would visit her two children frequently.

[23][24][25][26] Ressa was an undergraduate student at Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English and certificates in theater and dance in 1986.

[41] In September 2010, she wrote a piece for The Wall Street Journal criticising the then president Benigno Aquino III handling of the bus hostage crisis.

[45] As a Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University's Institute of Global Politics, Ressa leads projects related to AI and democracy.

[56] In October 2022, Ressa joined the Council for Responsible Social Media project launched by Issue One to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

The website under her stewardship also wrote about the alleged pro-Duterte online "troll army" which according to their article, were pushing out fake news stories and manipulating the narrative around his presidency.

[59] On January 22, 2018, Ressa appeared before the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to comply with a subpoena over an online libel complaint under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which the administration of Rodrigo Duterte has wielded to punish criticism of the President and his allies.

[69] Though the article was written in 2012 before the act criminalizing cyberlibel was signed into law by Benigno Aquino III, the Department of Justice considered it republished after a typographical error was corrected in 2014.

[71] The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), which is the main human rights law firm in the Philippines, led by Atty.

[78] The Philippines' Bureau of Internal Revenue, after a study of Ressa's explanation, ruled that Rappler's issuance of securities-generated capital gains was taxable.

[77] On February 13, 2019, Philippine judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch #46 issued the arrest warrant for "cyber libel" against Ressa for an article published on Rappler.

The "cyber libel" law was passed after the article was originally published, so the charge was based on the technicality that fixing a typo might be considered "republishing".

[80] Due to time constraints, Ressa was unable to post bail amounting to ₱60,000 ($1,150) resulting in her arrest and confinement within the (holding) board room office of the NBI building.

[81] On February 14, 2019, at the executor proceeding of Manila city Judge Maria Teresa Abadilla, Ressa gained freedom by posting bail at ₱100,000 ($1,900).

[11] In contrast, the official spokesperson for the Malacañang Palace denied any government involvement in the arrest, asserting that the lawsuit against Ressa was set forth by a private individual, the plaintiff Wilfredo Keng.

[4] In her ruling, Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa argued that Rappler "did not offer a scintilla of proof that they verified the imputations of various crimes in the disputed article...

Sheila Coronel, director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, argued that the conviction is representative of "how democracy dies in the 21st century.

The country's Ant-Cybercrime Law raises serious concerns that it limits the ability of journalists to expose, document and address issues of important public interest, thereby violating the right to receive and impart information," Khan's brief alleged.

The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute was also permitted to submit its legal opinion “by way of special appearance” through attorney Maria Cristina Yambot, in Ressa and Reynaldo Santos' case.

It denied SG Menardo Guevarra's certiorari and sustained Pasig RTC Branch 157, Presiding Judge Ana Teresa Cornejo-Tomacruz's junking of the case in September 2023.

[102][103] Ressa was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by prime minister and leader of the Norwegian Labour Party Jonas Gahr Støre.