For content providers—the bishops among them—the decision should mean that they won't be forced into a "pay for play" situation in which they have to fork over money just to get the same treatment as anybody else's websites.

Modern-day religion is becoming stifled in the secular age, said Mary Eberstadt, author of "It's Dangerous to Believe: Religious Freedom and Its Enemies."

During his trip to Poland for World Youth Day, Pope Francis will go to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp. He said he wants to go alone and say nothing.

"Everybody is consuming more news today than they ever have before, but in different ways," said John David "JD" Long-Garcia, editor-in-chief of Angelus News. "We're looking for ways ... to connect with people on a larger platform."

Duterte, who won by a landslide in the May elections with 16.6 million votes, promised to "listen to the murmurings of the people" as he vowed to relentlessly fight the "problems that bedevil our country."

There were 437 incidents of anti-Muslim hatred recorded in 2015, up from 146 the year before.