SEC revokes registration of news website Rappler

January 15, 2018

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the registration of news organization Rappler allegedly for violating the Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law.

SEC accused Rappler of violating constitutional restrictions on ownership and control of mass media entities because of funds from Omidyar Network,  a fund created by eBay founder and entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar.

"The En Banc finds Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation, a Mass Media Entity and its alter ego, liable for violating the constitutional and statutory Foreign Equity Restriction in Mass Media, enforceable through laws and rules within the mandate of the commission," the SEC en banc said in its decision dated January 11 but published on its website Monday.

Rappler maintains it is 100 percent Filipino owned and will go through the legal process to defend itself. Work continues at the news website,. SEC voided the Omidyar PDR and revoked Rappler's certificate of incorporation.

The SEC investigation was ordered by the Office of the Solicitor General, which wrote the agency on December 14, 2016, to investigate Rappler over its PDRs.

The SEC created a "Special Panel" on July 8, 2017, to conduct "formal, in-depth examination of Rappler Inc and its parent, Rappler Holdings Corporation, as to possible violations of nationality restrictions on ownership and/or control of Mass Media entities." DMS