MANILA - Nobel laureate Maria Ressa confirmed the government is pressing forward with an order to shut down Rappler, the news website she co-founded in 2012.
The site, which gained notoriety for reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, was ordered to shut a day before Duterte leaves office.
Despite the order, Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, vowed to keep the site running despite the order. “We continue to work, it is business as usual,” she said.
Rappler has been at the forefront of the campaign against fake news and disinformation in the country, pooling together resources among a variety of actors — including reporters, lawyers, and activists — to fact-check and expose disinformation.
“Part of the reason I didn’t have much sleep last night is because we essentially got a shutdown order,” Ressa told the audience during a speech in Hawaii.
As vocal critics of Duterte, Ressa and Rappler have faced a series of criminal charges, probes, and online attacks. However, the latest blow came as the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed the “revocation of the certificates of incorporation” of Rappler for violating “constitutional and statutory restrictions on foreign ownership in mass media” on June 29.
The news site said the latest decision confirmed the shutdown but vowed to appeal.
“We have discussed all possible scenarios with Rapplers (staff) since SEC issued its first order in 2018,” said Glenda Gloria, executive editor and co-founder of the site. “Nothing ever sufficiently prepares an organization for a ‘kill’ order,” she said.
The government has taken several steps to shut down Rappler by charging Ressa and the publication with multiple counts of tax evasion as well as cybercrimes. She was convicted of online libel in 2020 under the anti-cybercrime law, which critics say is used as a means to quash dissent. In response, Ressa has accused the government of weaponizing “not only social media but also the country’s laws and is using it against media organizations.”
Speaking at Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum in Bonn last month, Ressa noted that lies, laced with anger and hate, spread faster than facts. “Rebuilding trust with truth is vital to combat the rise of fascism,” she said.
Ressa’s comments came at a time when journalists and human rights activists in the are increasingly concerned about the ascent to power of Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the former dictator.
Marcos Jr.’s running mate — Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former president — was sworn in as vice president. Both of them have so far failed to acknowledge the human rights atrocities that took place under their fathers. (AP, AFP)
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