Earlier in June, Hong Kong-based publication Apple Daily had its offices raided and assets frozen. The company shortly announced its closure and printed its last paper on 24 June. Now, cyber activists in the country are saving articles by the publication to the blockchain, so they can still be accessed.
Apple Daily Is Being Saved to the Blockchain
Cyber activists in Hong Kong are saving Apple Daily’s articles on to the blockchain, after the publication announced its closure. Once on the blockchain, Apple Daily’s articles will not be susceptible to censorship.
Under Hong Kong’s national security law, the government can request the removal of content it deems “subversive or secessionist”. Police in Hong Kong froze the assets of companies linked to Apple Daily, and arrested five executives last week.
As first reported by Reuters, a 21-year-old tech worker named Ho began uploading Apple Daily articles to the decentralized file storage platform ARWeave. In a quote to Reuters, Ho explained “I’m not doing this because I love Apple Daily, it’s what needs to be done”.
What Is ARWeave, and How Does It Help?
ARWeave breaks down files into smaller blocks of information. After being broken down, these blocks then get distributed over an open network of anonymous computers around the world–the blockchain.
The use of a global network makes it very difficult for any content on the blockchain to be censored, as it is spread across a number of different devices. If anyone was to try and tamper with the content, any changes would be easily identifiable and trackable through variations in the block’s digital key.
So far, more than 4,000 of Apple Daily’s articles have been uploaded to the blockchain through ARWeave. Once uploaded to the blockchain, the articles are available to read for anyone with access to a computer.
Ho’s digital repository of Apple Daily’s articles is still in a beta phase, and won’t be officially launched for a couple of months. But the uploading of Apple Daily’s articles gives reassurance to its readers that they’ll still be able to access the publication’s old content, even if it can’t produce any more.
Old Apple Daily Articles Will Soon Be Accessible
Once Ho’s digital repository is officially launched, Apple Daily’s old articles will be accessible for anyone that can access a computer to read. Although Apple Daily can’t produce any more content, the publication won’t be forgotten.