FORMER senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will file a libel suit against news website Rappler over its report alleging that he approached the highly-scrutinized political data company Cambridge Analytica to rebrand the Marcos Family’s image on social media.
Marcos claimed that Rappler was “peddling lies and fake news” against the Marcos family and a libel case was “on the table.”
A statement by lawyer Vic Rodriguez, spokesman for the young Marcos, stated that Rappler has again resorted to peddling lies and fake news against his family in its vain attempt to dilute the serious credibility issue that has corrupted its worthiness instead of changing their ways and adhering to the fundamental tenets of fair journalism and balanced news reporting.
The Rodriguez statement follows:
“The news story published by Rappler on July 15, 2020, on its website claiming that former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approached then Cambridge Analytica is patently fake, false, and misleading.
“Former senator Marcos never reached out to them and, like most of us, was only made aware of Cambridge Analytica’s existence through reports of its controversial activities in the media.
“This move by Rappler to besmirch the former senator’s and the Marcos family’s reputation speaks to the kind of insidious reporting espoused by its convicted founder Maria Ressa.
“The timing of this news story is nothing more than a marketing ploy meant to drum up support for their beleaguered news blog site.”
Rodriguez said Marcos was consulting with his legal team to fight the injustice. “The filing of libel charges is on the table,” he said.
In the Rappler report, former Cambridge Analytica employee-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser revealed to Executive Editor Maria Ressa that Marcos had approached the highly-scrutinized political data company Cambridge Analytica to “rebrand” the Marcos family’s image on social media.
The interview on “Rappler Talk” was aired on July 15.
(c) manila times
