The Philippine government has again ordered that Rappler, the news website co-founded by Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, be shut down for violating foreign property rules, the latest blow to press freedom in the country.
Rappler has angered President Rodrigo Duterte over the investigation into his drug war, and the government has filed seven criminal cases against Ms. Ressa, alleging tax evasion, violation of foreign property rules and cyber libel.
In his 2017 State of the Nation speech, Mr. Duterte mentioned the news organization and said it was: “wholly owned” by Americans, a charge Rappler has denied. (The constitution prohibits foreign entities from owning domestic media organizations in the Philippines.)
Tuesday’s announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission to revoke Rappler’s operating license confirms an earlier move by the agency. In 2018, the SEC said an investment by Omidyar Network, owned by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, violated restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic media.
Rappler argued that Omidyar’s investment was not the same as owning stock, was not against the law and did not give Omidyar Network control over its operations. Rappler has appealed multiple times to the Court of Appeals and the SEC, but lost each time. It continued to publish as the legal battle continued.
Ms Ressa said Tuesday’s decision “effectively confirmed Rappler’s closure.” She had previously announced the SEC’s decision in a speech at the International Media Conference hosted by the East-West Center of Hawaii.
In an interview from a Honolulu hotel, Ms Ressa said her organization would continue to appeal the decision “because the proceedings were highly irregular”.
“This is illegal,” said Mrs. Ressa. “To me, this is harassment and intimidation. We will continue to do our job. In fact, our end goal is to keep whacking that Damocles sword.”
Francis Lim, an attorney representing Rappler, said the SEC, as its administrative authority, could not enforce the decision without court approval. He said he planned to file a request for reconsideration with the Court of Appeal. If that is not possible, they can bring the matter before the Supreme Court.
“It’s not the end of the world for us,” Mr Lim told reporters, adding that there was still a “very long process” to go.
Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, called the case a “government vendetta” against Ms. Ressa and Rappler. “The bottom line is that this is an attempt to silence Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and stop Rappler, hook or crook,” said Mr Robertson.
The order came two days before Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the deposed dictator, is inaugurated as president. It was the latest example of the pressure facing the national news media. Last week, the government blocked two Philippine news websites for supporting communist terrorist organizations.
On Monday, Mr. Duterte said he had used his presidential powers in 2020 to shut down ABS-CBN, a major broadcast network that reports on the president’s drug war and his track record.
A multi-award winning Rappler is known for his work on countering disinformation and his investigation of Mr. Duterte’s drug war. It is especially popular among young Filipinos. Last year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Ms Ressa and Dmitri A. Muratov of Russia for “their courageous fight for freedom of expression”.
Ms. Ressa said the company had to increase security for its staff after internet users recently spread a false claim that Rappler was the least trusted news organization in the Philippines and after a pro-government Facebook account published Rappler’s address.
“When the rule of law is so bent that it is being violated,” she said, “you have to be prepared for anything.”