On April 21, 2016, laureate Mazen Darwish received the Freedom of Speech Award. The reason was his tremendous commitment to human rights and freedom of expression in Syria. Darwish is director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. He and his fellow journalists played an important role in spreading information about developments in Syria. This came as foreign journalists had almost all been expelled from the country.

In very difficult and dangerous situations, he disclosed details of arbitrary arrests. He also wrote about police and security forces that did not obey the law. Darwish is one of the founders of syriaview.net. This is a website that features news without taking sides. The Syrian government banned this website. Through his efforts, Darwish has become a symbol of the struggle for human rights in Syria.