What is Omidyar Network (the foreign investor which is the basis of SEC to revoke Rappler’s license) and why it invested in the news site?
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the registration of Rappler due to the reason that the social news website is allegedly giving the right to decide to its foreign investor Omidyar Network.
The government agency pointed out that it is prohibited in the Philippine Constitution that a media entity in the country will be controlled by a foreign entity.
With this regard, SEC released a decision regarding the revocation of the news website’s license.
However, what is really Omidyar Network and why it decided to invest in Rappler?
Based on a recent article published in Inquirer, the said foreign investor is owned by Pierre Omidyar who is the founder of E-Bay, among the first online shopping site.
Since he is one of the few who started the dotcom industry, it made him very wealthy but he did not just focused on earning more riches for himself.
Omidyar, based on the article, wanted to do “unglamorous work at the grass roots, applying the optimistic lesson he drew from eBay: that ‘people are basically good’ and capable of overcoming forces like disease, ignorance, poverty, and repression.”
When he launched the Omidyar Network in 2004, he described the said entity as a “philanthropic investment firm”.
On its official website, the investor iterated the purpose why it has invested to Rappler.
It was stated that the foreign investor saw that the Philippine-based news site is moving beyond traditional journalism.
Omidyar Network believes that the agency led by prominent journalist Maria Ressa has a unique approach when it comes to bringing the news to the public.
It is for the reason that it “brings together journalism, civic engagement, and crowdsourcing to foster conversations that lead to real-world activism,” based on the article.
In the midst of the controversy, the foreign investor stated that it does not own any shares in Rappler.
Its economic stake in the social news website is just 5.5 percent.