Philippine Nobel laureate Ressa's Rappler website wins appeal to overturn shutdown order
Corporate regulator overstepped authority, says court
Nobel laureate welcomes decision, calls it "vindication"
Ressa still faces at least two remaining cases
recasts, adds Ressa's comments in paragraphs 6-7
By Mikhail Flores and Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, Aug 9 (Reuters) -Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa's news website Rappler won an appeal to restore its corporate licence after a court overturned a regulator's decision to shutter the media company.
The Court of Appeals, in a July 23 decision made public on Friday, had ruled the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overstepped its authority in ordering Rappler's shutdown in 2018.
"Like a bull seeing red, the SEC ... plowed through law and jurisprudence to reach its mark – the death of Rappler," the court said in its ruling.
The SEC declined to comment, saying it has yet to receive a copy of the decision.
Rappler's operating licence was rescinded in 2018 for violating foreign equity restrictions on media firms when it sold depositary rights to a U.S.-based company. The SEC upheld its findings in 2022.
It was allowed to operate for the last six years despite the shutdown order.
Rappler had previously argued that theOmidyar Network, the philanthropic arm of EBay founder Pierre Omidyar, was a silent investor. Omidyar cut ties by donating the depository receipts to Rappler's staff.
Ressa had welcomed the decision, saying it was a "vindication after a tortuous eight years of harassment".
"Journalists are not the enemy," Ressa told a news conference hours after the ruling went public.
Ressawon the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize along with Russian investigative journalist Dmitry Muratov in a decision widely seen as an endorsement of free speech rights that had come under fire worldwide.
She still faces at least two remaining charges, including a cyber libel conviction where she could face up to over six years of jail time. She is currently out on bail.
Rappler earned the ire of former President Rodrigo Duterte for its reporting on his anti-drug campaign which rights groups said have killed thousands of people. Rappler and Ressa were charged in at least nine indictments that included tax evasion charges which have been dismissed.
Reporting by Mikhail Flores and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by John Mair and Kim Coghill
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Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
