Apple Daily (Chinese: 蘋果日報) was a tabloid-style newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded in 1995 by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong. Along with entertainment magazine Next Magazine, Apple Daily was part of Next Digital. The paper published print and digital editions in Traditional Chinese, as well as a digital-only English edition. A sister publication of the same name is published online in Taiwan under a joint venture between Next Digital and other Taiwanese companies.
In a Reuters Institute poll conducted in
January 2019, the Apple Daily newspaper and its news website
were the second most used in Hong Kong. The
survey showed it was the third least trusted major source of news in the same year.
However, according to a survey conducted
by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Apple Daily was the third most
trusted paid newspaper in 2019.
The reporting and editorials of Apple
Daily have been described as favoring the Hong Kong pro-democracy camp
and critical of the Chinese government. On
the other hand, it was accused of spreading Sinophobia. As a result of its editorial position, it was
subject to advertising boycotts and political pressure. After the controversial
Hong Kong national security law was enacted, its headquarters faced a police
raid on 10 August 2020, which was condemned worldwide.
In June 2021, the government of Carrie
Lam forced the closure of the journal in Hong Kong by conducting a high-profile
raid and the arrest of company executives on 17 June 2021; and the asset freeze
order issued by the Secretary of Security Bureau John Lee for allegedly
violating the national security law. The
paper was unable to continue operational existence due to the freezing of the
local bank accounts of the journal as well as the personal accounts of
proprietor Jimmy Lai. The final print
edition was published on 24 June, and Apple Daily thus ceased operations. The YouTube channel of "Apple
Daily" and its supplement "Fruit Seed" had ceased service at
23:59 on 23 June 2021. The Taiwanese version of the website remains online as
of 24 June 2021. However, the Taiwanese
print edition did not outlive its Hong Kong counterpart, having ceased
publishing on 18 May due to financial troubles in the Taiwanese branch
unrelated to the situation in Hong Kong.
2021 Arrests and Closure
On 17 June 2021, Hong Kong Police raided
Apple Daily's headquarters again, this time bringing 500 officers and arresting
CEO Cheung Kim-hung, COO Royston Chow, Chief Editor Ryan Law, Associate
Publisher Chan Pui-man and Platform Director of Apple Daily Digital Cheung
Chi-wai, charging them with violating Article 29 of the national security law
by "collu[ding] with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger
national security". Apple Daily warned
that press freedom in Hong Kong was "hanging by a thread."
The raid and arrests were criticized by
the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom, as well as the United
Nations' human rights spokesperson. The
criticism that the national security law was being used to suppress press
freedom has been rejected by China who insisted that "the cases have
nothing to do with press freedom" and that external forces should
"stop undermining Hong Kong's rule of law on the pretext of press
freedom". Supporters in Hong Kong
showed support for the newspaper by buying it, which increased its print run to
500,000 the day after the arrests.
The assets of three companies, Apple
Daily Ltd, Apple Daily Printing Ltd, and AD Internet Ltd, had also been frozen
since 14 May, as were accounts belonging to Jimmy Lai worth more than $500m. On 21 June, the paper announced that unless
the accounts were unfrozen, it would have to close as it was unable to pay its
staff or operating costs. On 23 June, it
announced that the paper would close "in view of staff members'
safety", and that the print run of 24 June would be its last. Apple Daily also announced that its digital
version would be switched off on 23 June at 23:59 Hong Kong time.
Activists backed up the news articles
from the Apple Daily on various block chain platforms to ensure the content was
available and free from Chinese censorship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Daily#2021_arrests_and_closure
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