 | |
| Founded | January 1, 2012; 14 years ago (2012-01-01) |
|---|---|
| Founders | Maria Ressa[1] Cheche Lazaro[1] Glenda Gloria[1] Chay Hofileña[1] Lilibeth Frondoso[1] Gemma Mendoza[1] Marites Dañguilan Vitug[1] Raymund Miranda[1] Manuel Ayala[1] Nico Jose Nolledo |
| Headquarters | Unit B, 3/F, North Wing Estancia Offices,Capitol Commons,Ortigas Center,, Philippines |
Key people |
|
| Revenue | PHP139.47 million(FY 2015)[1] |
| PHP-38.35 million(FY 2015)[1] | |
| Owner | Rappler Holdings Corporation (98.8%)[1] Others (1.2%)[1] |
| Parent | Rappler Holdings Corporation |
| Website | www |
Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripples")[3] is aFilipinoonline news website based inPasig,Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureateMaria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists as well as technopreneurs. It started as aFacebook page named MovePH in August 2011[4] and evolved into a website on January 1, 2012.[5]
In 2018, agencies under thePhilippine government initiated legal proceedings against Rappler.[6] Rappler and its staff alleged it was being targeted for its revelations of corruption by government and elected officials, the usage of bots and trolls favoringRodrigo Duterte's administration,[7] and documenting thePhilippine drug war.[8][9]
In October 2021, Rappler co-founder Ressa, alongside Russian journalistDmitry Muratov, was awarded theNobel Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression in their homelands.[10]
With the idea of professional journalists using social media and crowd sourcing for news distribution,[11] Rappler was started in 2011 by Filipino journalistMaria Ressa along with her entrepreneur and journalist friends.[12][13] Brainstorming for the company began some time in 2010 when Maria Ressa was writing her second book,From Bin Laden to Facebook. Other key people involved in its conceptualization and creation were formerNewsbreak head andABS-CBN News Channel managing editor Glenda Gloria, journalist andAteneo De Manila University professor Chay Hofileña, formerTV Patrol executive producer Lilibeth Frondoso, Philippine Internet pioneerNix Nolledo, Internet entrepreneur Manuel I. Ayala, and formerNBC Universal Global Networks Asia-Pacific managing director Raymund Miranda.[14]
Rappler first went public as abeta version website on January 1, 2012, the same day that thePhilippine Daily Inquirer published a Rappler piece that broke the story of (then) Philippine Chief JusticeRenato Corona being awarded aUniversity of Santo Tomas doctoral degree without a required dissertation.[15] The site officially launched at its #MoveManila event at theFar Eastern University in Manila on January 12, 2012.[16]
In 2016, Rappler began to be critical of theDuterte-led government of the Philippines, which had just taken office in 2016, and its controversialwar on drugs after Rappler noticed a network of paid followers and dummy accounts onFacebook spreadingfake news related to Duterte.[17]
On January 11, 2018, theSecurities and Exchange Commission revoked Rappler's license to operate as a "mass media" entity, for allegedly violating theConstitution's Foreign Equity Restrictions in Mass Media by being wholly foreign-owned.[18] Rappler then sought a petition for review from theCourt of Appeals on January 28, but was rejected on July 26, 2018, finding no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the SEC. Many journalistic organizations and committees saw the act as intimidation meant to silence opposition and control freedom of the press.[19]
On October 26, 2017, Rappler became a member of thePoynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). This led to Facebook tapping Rappler andVera Files in April 2018 to be its Philippine partners on its worldwidefact-checking program, in part because of their participation in the IFCN.[20][21] Under the program, false news stories will appear lower on users' news feeds and lower the chances of people seeing those stories.[20][21] The program, according to a Facebook executive, "is one of the ways we hope to better identify and reduce the reach of false news that people share on our platform."[21] A spokesperson for the Philippine government backed the fact-checking program but protested Facebook's partnership with Rappler.[22][23]
On June 29, 2022, Maria Ressa released a statement stating that the Philippine government has ordered that Rappler be shut down.[24][25] The shutdown order came right as the former President Rodrigo Duterte was set to leave office. TheSecurities and Exchange Commission stated that it decided to uphold the shut down order due to the findings of its own investigation and that of the courts finding Rappler's funding model to be unconstitutional. Ressa commented on the ruling and called them "intimidation tactics". She also stated that they will continue to exhaust all legal remedies to fight the ruling. She also noted that Rappler will continue to operate due to the order only being executory on approval of a court.[24]
"This is intimidation. These are political tactics. We refuse to succumb to them. We're not going to voluntarily give up our rights. And we really shouldn't. I continue to appeal for that because when you give up your rights, you're never going to get them back." – Maria Ressa[24]
On August 9, 2024, theCourt of Appeals Special 7th Division promulgated a July 23 decision overturning theSecurities and Exchange Commission's order in 2018 to shut down Rappler on foreign ownership grounds, citing "grave abuse of discretion" and other legal and constitutional violations by the former.[26] In effect the CA, in granting Rappler'scertiorari andprohibition directed theSEC to restore Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation'scertificate of Incorporation.[27]
"Mood Meter" is aweb widget embedded on each of Rappler's blogs and articles.[28] It appears as colored bubbles showing the way people react to Rappler's stories.[29] Readers are prompted to choose their response from eight different emotional reactions. The ten stories that received the most reactions in the last 48-hour period would appear on the Mood Navigator.[30]
The Rappler Mood Meter, which is similar to Facebook Reactions,[31] won the Bronze Medal for Brand Experience at the 2012 Boomerang Awards sponsored by the Internet Media Marketing Association of the Philippines.[32]
In 2020, Rappler launched its new content delivery and community engagement platform with several features such asWCAG 2.0 AA compliance, content moderation through topics,live blogs, and premium subscriptions.[33][34][35] Rappler also allows private use of its new software platform for other organizations.[citation needed]
Rappler+ is an exclusive membership program of Rappler launched in 2019. Aside from weekly newsletters, members get access to investigative reports, research data, industry reports, and e-books produced by the digital media and investigative journalism firm.[36]
Agos is acrowdsourcing platform focused on disaster risk reduction and mitigation using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and social media.[37]
Rappler traces part of its roots to Newsbreak, an investigative news magazine established in 2001 and noted for its coverage of political and social issues in the Philippines. Several of Rappler’s co-founders were previously part of Newsbreak, bringing their investigative and editorial expertise to Rappler’s pioneering online news approach.[38]
Alleged ownership irregularities:
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Many legal cases have been filed by various government agencies against Rappler since 2017; these cases are collectively considered byThe Guardian andReporters Without Borders as "judicial harassment."[8][39] Among other cases are cases alleging ownership irregularities and tax evasion.[40][41] Both Ressa[42] andChel Diokno, a human rights attorney who represents Rappler, connect a statement made by PresidentDuterte regarding Rappler's ownership during his 2017State of the Nation Address[43] to the outpour of legal cases against Rappler from all areas of theexecutive branch.[44] If all of the cases filed against Ressa related to her management of Rappler up to June 18, 2020, were to result in guilty verdicts after final appeal, and thesentences were all to runconsecutively, she would face around 100 years in prison.[45]
On January 11, 2018, theSecurities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines (SEC) revoked Rappler's certificate of incorporation over Rappler's use of PhilippineDepository Receipts (PDRs). It said that the provisions of the PDR issued toOmidyar Network by Rappler gave the American investment firm control over the local media firms' other PDR holders as well as its corporate policies, which the SEC says is a violation of the Constitution's provisions on foreign ownership and control.[18][46] Rappler claimed that it was 100% Filipino owned and that Omidyar only invests in the media firm.[47] Despite the certificate revocation, SEC stated that Rappler could still operate since their decision was not final, pointing out that the media firm could also challenge the decision before the Court of Appeals within 15 days.[48] Malacañang Palace also suggested that Rappler authors can still continue to publish on their website as bloggers.[49] On February 28, Omidyar Network donated its Rappler PDRs to the editors and executives of Rappler.[50]
Rappler alleged that the revocation of Rappler's certificate was an attack against thefreedom of the press.[51] TheNational Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and the Philippine Press Institute (PPI) said the SEC ruling is part of a pattern of restricting criticism.[51] The National Press Club of the Philippines, on the other hand, supported the SEC decision.[52][53] Other groups such as thePhilippine Center for Investigative Journalism and theCenter for Media Freedom and Responsibility also expressed concerns about the revocation and press freedom in the country in general.[53][54][55]
Members of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, mostly from the opposition,[56] issued statements of concern, describing the SEC revocation of Rappler's license as "a loss for dissenting voices and free speech",[54] "pure harassment" and "straight out of the dictator's playbook",[56][54] and an "affront on press freedom."[56] Law advocacy group CenterLaw said the move was unconstitutional since the SEC denied Rappler due process. It also said the SEC's action was "tantamount to prior restraint" of "a known critic of the government's drug war."[57]
The Philippine government denied the claim, pointing out that PresidentRodrigo Duterte could have used the armed forces to implement Rappler's closure, as done by various foreign governments, but did not.[58] The chief presidential legal counsel defended the SEC, saying the SEC's job was simply to punish violators of the law.[59]
On March 8, 2018, theBureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed criminal and tax evasion charges against Rappler Holdings Corp. before theDepartment of Justice (DoJ) for allegedly evading ₱133 million in taxes.[60][41] Rappler's petition for review regarding the SEC's decision was subsequently rejected by theCourt of Appeals on July 26, 2018, finding no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the SEC.[19]
On June 29, 2022, Ressa released a statement during an international conference affirming that the SEC had upheld its earlier ruling to revoke Rappler's operating license. Ressa also stated that Rappler will file an appeal due to "proceedings that were highly irregular" in the SEC's decision.[24]
On June 13, 2025, Ressa and five other Rappler executives were acquitted by a court inPasig of violating restrictions on foreigners owning companies under the Anti-Dummy Law.[61]
TheNational Bureau of Investigation of the Philippines subpoenaed Ressa and a former Rappler reporter on January 18, 2018, in connection with an online libel complaint filed by private entrepreneur Wilfredo Keng. The complaint was for a 2012 article that reported that then Philippine Supreme Court Chief JusticeRenato Corona had been using a luxury vehicle owned by Keng.[62] The report also claimed that Keng was involved in human trafficking.[62]
On March 8, 2018, theNational Bureau of Investigation lodged before theDepartment of Justice (DoJ) acyber libel complaint against Rappler and its officers (Maria Ressa, former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos, Jr. who wrote the story, and directors and officers Manuel Ayala, Nico Jose Nolledo, Glenda Gloria, James Bitanga, Felicia Atienza, Dan Albert de Padua and Jose Maria G. Hofilena) in connection with a news article published in 2012 wherein citing in the complaint stated that “Unlike published materials on print, defamatory statements online, such as those contained in the libelous article written and published by subjects, [are]indubitably considered as a continuing crime until and unless the libelous article is actually removed or taken down. Otherwise, the same is a continuing violation of Section 4 (c) (4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012”.[60][63][64]
Ressa was arrested on February 13, 2019, and spent a night in jail before being able to bail herself out.[65][66] The arrest was criticized by opposition and journalist groups, seeing the arrest as beingpolitically motivated.[67][68][69] The trial began on July 23, 2019.[70] Ressa and Reynaldo Santos, Jr.were convicted ofcyberlibel by ManilaRegional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 on June 15, 2020, and sentenced to a maximum of six years in jail, along with being ordered to pay fines of ₱400,000 each.[71] Human rights and media freedom advocates have characterized the court decision as a blow tofreedom of the press and democracy.[72][73]
After the verdict, Keng sued Ressa again for a different count of cyberlibel,[74] this time over atweet she wrote on February 15, 2019, which contained a screenshot of the 2002Philippine Star article discussed in§ Santos Jr.'s article.[75][76][77] Keng stated that by republishing the article "[Ressa]feloniously communicated the malicious imputations against me not only to her 350,000 Twitter followers, but to anyone who has access to the internet."[75] Keng later withdrew the cyberlibel complaint after reportedly losing interest in the case.[78]
On July 8, 2022, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 upheld the cyberlibel conviction of Ressa and Santos, sentencing them to serve a minimum of 6 months and 1 day to a maximum of 6 years, eight months and 20 days in jail.[79]
On December 3, 2018, anarrest warrant for Rappler's founder Maria Ressa was sent to thePasig police station, for alleged omissions in the VAT (value added tax) filings of Rappler, in connection withPeople of the Philippines v. Rappler Holdings Corp. and Maria Ressa (R-PSG-18-02983-CR).[80] However, herarraignment in this case was suspended as she filed amotion to quash theinformation,[81] and she was not arrested in connection with this warrant, as she posted bail in the amount of ₱60,000 the same day.[82] As of January 2020, the case remains suspended, as the PasigRTC has still not ruled on the motion.[83]
On March 29, 2019, Ressa was arrested again upon her arrival atNinoy Aquino International Airport from an overseas trip. The arrest warrant was issued by the PasigRTC Branch 265 against Ressa in connection with yet another case she and members of Rappler's 2016 board are facing, this time for alleged violations of the Anti-Dummy Law (C.A. No. 108).[84][85] Ressa posted bail in the amount of ₱100,000 the same day.[85]
In January 2023, a Philippine court acquitted Ressa and Rappler of tax evasion charges stemming from the 2018 case.[86]
As of 2017, Rappler is owned primarily by Rappler Holdings Corporation, which is in turn owned by Dolphin Fire Group (31.2%),Maria Ressa (23.8%), Hatchd Group (17.9%), Benjamin So (17.9%), and 9.3 percent of minority shares.[87]
Rappler originally drew in funds through the issuance of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDR), which allowed foreign firmsOmidyar Network and North Base Media to invest in Rappler.[87]
| Quantity | Issue date | Issue |
|---|---|---|
| 264,601 | May 29, 2015 | NBM Rappler* |
| 11,764,117 | July 29, 2015 | |
| 7,217,257 | October 2, 2015 | Omidyar Network |
On February 28, 2018, Omidyar Network donated its Rappler PDRs to the editors and executives of Rappler.[50]
The 2020 revenue of Rappler is broken down as follows:[89]
Rappler receives grants for fact-checking, related research and initiatives to address onlinedisinformation from organizations including:[89]
In 2021, Rappler drew controversy and was criticized by Filipino netizens for the tone of its headline on the death ofEli Soriano.[90][91][92]
After the SONA in July 2017, Ressa said the first subpoena was issued against them. 'Within a few months in January 2018, we received a shutdown order, a revocation of our permit or license to operate.'
We fast forward to three years later, July 2017, the president now is Duterte, he issues aState of the Nation Address where he mentionsRappler and says thatRappler is fully owned by Americans. Soon after that, a week later,Rappler received its firstsubpoena, and then that became a barrage of cases.