Wikileaks founder slams Rappler

DAYS after Malacañang maintained that Rappler violated the law, the online news site was criticized by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for coming out with an article linking him to the supposed Russian involvement in propaganda in the Philippines.

Calling it the “stupidest” article he has ever read, Assange questioned Rappler’s basis as his supposed link to the Russian propaganda was established using only a single tweet.

“This article in Rappler is literally the stupidest I have ever read. The evidence of a Russian plot is that I tweeted a link to Rappler,” Assange said in his Twitter account.

He was referring to the article released by Rappler last week titled “Bots, Assange, an alliance: Has Russian propaganda infiltrated the Philippines?”

The article said Assange retweeted an article quoting President Rodrigo Duterte as saying that Rappler is funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States.

“Contrary to Duterte’s claims, Rappler is 100% Filipino- owned, and the CIA is not one of its funders,” the Rappler said.

Is Rappler right?” Assange asked in his retweet.

In the article, Rappler used Assange’s tweet as an example of “questionable tweets (that) raised concerns about pos- sible Russian presence in the Philippine online space.”

The article also quoted Ben Nimmo of the Atlantic Council, an organization focusing on social media and digital forensic research, that Assange has “been extremely useful for the Russian government.”

The news outfit claimed that Assange’s tweet cast doubts on its ownership.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in January revoked Rappler’s license to operate for violation of the constitutional mandate for Filipino ownership and control of mass media.

The SEC also voided the Philippine depositary receipts (PDRs) issued by Rappler Holdings to Omidyar Network Fund LLC, a fund created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, saying this was a “fraudulent” transaction under the Securities Regulation Code.

Rappler has contested the SEC’s ruling before the Court of Appeals

On Wednesday, Rappler’s foreign investor Omidyar Network announced it is donating its $1.5-million (around P78 million) investment to the media agency’s 14 senior managers.

But Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Omidyar Network’s move is an admission that the online news agency violated the law.