After a judge overturned a bank’s decision to screen the media organization, Manila’s Nobel laureate Maria Ressa’s information website Rappler won an appeal to have its business license reinstated.
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) overstepped its authority by ordering Rappler’s shutdown in 2018, the Court of Appeals had determined in a Jul 23 decision made public on Friday ( Aug 9 ) in a ruling from that day.
” Like a bull seeing purple, the SEC… plowed through law and jurisprudence to achieve its level – the demise of Rappler”, the judge said in its decision.
The SEC declined to comment, saying it has yet to get a copy of the selection.
Rappler’s 2018 running license was voided after the company sold quality rights to a US-based company in 2018 for breaking international equity laws. In 2022, the SEC confirmed its results.
Despite the closure attempt, it continued to operate for the previous six years.
Rappler had recently argued that the Omidyar Network, the humanitarian arm of eBay leader Pierre Omidyar, was a silent investment. By donating the bank records to Rappler’s workers, Omidyar cut relationships.
Ressa had welcomed the choice, saying it was a “vindication after a twisted eight decades of harassment”.
Days after the ruling was made public, Ressa said at a press event that” editors are not the enemy.”
In a move commonly regarded as an endorsement of free speech rights that had been criticized all over the world, Ressa and Russian investigative journalist Dmitry Muratov jointly won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
She is also facing at least two other charges, including one involving cyberlibel, which could result in jail time for more than six decades. She is currently being held on loan.
Rodrigo Duterte’s former president criticized Rappler for his reporting on his anti-drug strategy, which according to rights groups has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. In at least nine charges, including those that included tax avoidance, were allegedly based on allegations of Rapper and Ressa.