End of 2010 / Early 2011

Rappler was started in 2011 by Filipino journalist Maria Ressa along with her entrepreneur and journalist friends.
Brainstorming for the company began sometime when Maria Ressa was writing her second book "From Bin Laden to
Facebook." Other key people involved in its conceptualization and creation were former Newsbreak head and ABS-CBN
News Channel managing editor Glenda Gloria, internet entrepreneur Manuel I. Ayala and former Nation Broadcasting
Corporation executive Raymund Miranda

2012

Rappler first went public as a beta version website on January 1, 2012, the same day that the Philippine Daily
Inquirer published a Rappler piece that broke out the story of (then) Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona being
awarded a University of Santo Tomasdoctoral degree without a required dissertation. The site officially launched at its
#MoveManila event at the Far Eastern Universityin Manila on January 12, 2012.

2017

On October 26, 2017, Rappler became a member of the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
This led to Facebook tapping Rappler and Vera Files in April 2018 to be its Philippine partners in its worldwide fact-
checking program, in part because of their participation in the IFCN. Under the program, false news stories will appear
lower on users' news feeds and lower the chances of people seeing those stories. 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. A spokesperson for the Philippine government backed the fact-checking program but protested Facebook’s
partnership with Rappler.

2018

In January 2018 Rigoberto Tiglao of The Manila Times, wrote articles criticizing Rappler's ownership and calling for the
government to investigate whether the ownership was legal.
On January 11, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines (SEC) revoked Rappler's certificate of
incorporation over Rappler's use of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs). It said that the provisions of the PDR issued
to Omidyar 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. Rappler claimed that it is 100% Filipino owned and that Omidyar only invests in the media firm.
Despite the certificate revocation, SEC stated that Rappler can still operate since their decision is not final, pointing out
that the media firm can still challenge the decision before the Court of Appeals within 15 days. Malacañang Palace also
suggested that Rappler authors can still continue to publish on their website as bloggers.
On February 28, Omidyar Network donated its Rappler PDRs to the editors and executives of Rappler.
Rappler stated that the revocation of Rappler's certificate was an attack against the freedom of the press. The National
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. The National Press Club of
the Philippines, on the other hand, supported the SEC decision.
The Philippine government issued a statement denying such a claim, pointing out that President Rodrigo Duterte could
have used the armed forces to implement Rappler's closure, as done by various foreign governments, but never did
resort to such moves. Chief presidential legal counsel defended the SEC, saying the SEC’s job was simply to punish
violators of the law.
The National 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 report that then Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona had been using a luxury vehicle owned by
Keng. The report also claimed that Keng was involved in human trafficking.
On March 8, 2018, the National Bureau of Investigation lodged before the Department of Justice (DoJ) a cyber
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, 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”. On March 8, 2018, The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed criminal and tax
evasion charges against Rappler Holdings Corp. before the Department of Justice (DoJ) for evading P133 million in taxes.