Activists host a pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong on blockchain

Cyber ​​activists in Hong Kong are not giving up their right to freedom of expression and are using blockchain technology to secure articles in the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily.

Following a national security investigation, Apple Daily printed its final issue on Thursday. But Hong Kong activists took it from there and uploaded the publication’s articles to a distributed network, Reuters reported.

21-year-old Ho, an anonymous activist in the technology sector, started uploading Apple Daily articles to the decentralized file storage platform ARWeave this week. The platform, backed by investors like Andreessen Horowitz, implements a blockchain-like structure called Blockweave to enable permanent storage of files on a distributed network of computers. According to sources, more than 4,000 Apple Daily articles had been uploaded to ARWeave as of Thursday.

Apple Daily is one of the most vocal pro-democracy newspapers in Hong Kong, known as the biggest critic of Hong Kong and China’s leadership. Last week, police froze the assets of several companies affiliated with Apple Daily. In addition, they arrested five executives, which resulted in the tabloid printing its final issue, closing its website and deleting all social media accounts on Thursday.

“I’m not doing this because I love Apple Daily. It’s the right thing, “said Ho.” I never thought Apple Daily would go away so quickly. “

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The people of Hong Kong previously used blockchain technology to fight government censorship and hosted the content of the public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong through LikeCoin, a blockchain-based publishing infrastructure.

Since 2009, the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry has become a symbol of greater freedom, enabling people around the world to combat centralized power by building fundamentally decentralized networks. Distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies not only help fight government censorship, they also give people financial freedom.