The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of The Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia.

On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited their fight for freedom of expression, stressing that it is vital in promoting peace.

Members highlighted that in 2012, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused “critical attention on the President Rodrigo Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.”

Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993. Committee members said the paper is “an important source of information on censurable aspects of Russian society rarely mentioned by other media.”

The Nobel Peace prize is accompanied by a gold medal and about $1.1 million U.S.

Former recipients include the World Food Programme, Malala Yousafzei and Barack Obama.