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SEC reaffirms order on Rappler shutdown

UPDATE: The International Fact Checking Network, an initiative connecting fact checking organizations around the world, issued a statement condemning the SEC’s affirmation of an order to shut down Rappler. Read the statement here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released an order on Tuesday, June 28, upholding its earlier decision to shut down online news organization Rappler.

“We are entitled to appeal this decision and will do so, especially since the proceedings were highly irregular,” Rappler said in a statement.

The SEC stated that it “[affirms] the revocation of the certificates of incorporation of Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC) for their ‘violation of constitutional and statutory restrictions on foreign ownership in mass media.'”

“We have existing legal remedies all the way up to the highest court of the land,” Rappler said.

“It is business as usual for us since in our view, this is not immediately executory without court approval,” it added.

Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa made public the SEC decision and Rappler’s statement during a June 29 East-West Center conference in Hawaii.

In January 2018, the SEC revoked Rappler’s registration certificate, citing that the online news site allowed US-based philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network to invest through Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDR). The SEC viewed the granting of PDRs as a violation of foreign ownership in Philippine media organizations.

Read the SEC statement and the order below:

SEC Statement on affirmation of revocation of Rappler’s corporate registration by VERA Files on Scribd

SEC Order Dated 28 June 2022_in Re Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp. by VERA Files on Scribd