Press freedom in Hong Kong has been, as one observer put it, “alive but hanging from a thread” since a set of sweeping national security laws passed in 2020. It appears that final thread has snapped.
Apple Daily’s site now redirects to a shutdown notice and its content — often critical of the Chinese Communist Party — has been wiped clean. The newspaper’s pages on Twitter and Facebook and other social platforms have been removed and its apps have gone down, as well.
Austin Ramzy, a journalist for The New York Times based in Hong Kong, noted another outlet, Radio Television Hong Kong, had also taken down reporting after government pressure.
Apple Daily tells subscribers that all web and app content will disappear at midnight. Between this and RTHK taking down reports, a lot of information about recent events in the city is being memory-holed https://t.co/RqJCTBGLDl pic.twitter.com/0J77wquSgi
— Austin Ramzy (@austinramzy) June 23, 2021
Apple Daily said it would print 1 million copies of the day’s paper — 10 times its typical run. After 26 years of publishing investigative journalism on top officials, political analysis with a pro-democracy slant, and its fair share of celebrity gossip, it’s likely to be the final edition of Apple Daily.
Long queues already at the first stop for the final edition of @appledaily_hk hard copy – papers due to arrive around 1:30 am. #HongKong pic.twitter.com/1BTbXPby1I
— Kevin Yam 任建峰 (@kevinkfyam) June 23, 2021
#NOW Keep going – one of the very first batches of Apple Daily’s last print edition is available in Mong Kok. Shops are closed but only one newspaper stand stood out. “Limited to 2 purchase per person” pic.twitter.com/cpuWHVE80p
— Jasmine Leung (@leungjasminee) June 23, 2021
~@appledaily_hk hid a message “當言論自由變成一種罪” / (“When freedom of speech becomes a crime”) as the caption in the banner image in their email in regards to the end of their news subscription service https://t.co/saGD8I4XZn pic.twitter.com/OwaLuA6b1A
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) June 23, 2021
In one picture: why the crushing of @appledaily_hk in this way is a devastating blow.
Hong Kong front pages on 1 July 2020, after the implementation of the National Security Law. pic.twitter.com/ZlGecK6jif— Yuen Chan (@xinwenxiaojie) June 21, 2021
After Apple Daily’s final print last night, their online presence has begun disappearing. Pics are of the news app, Twitter, webpage, and a message on telegram saying their account will be deleted soon pic.twitter.com/RZudjGvXbO
— Pak Yiu (@pakwayne) June 23, 2021
#BREAKING: The very last front page of Hong Kwong’s Apple Daily @appledaily_hk after 26 years: “Hongkongers’ sorrowful goodbye: we support Apple Daily.” pic.twitter.com/cY3AN80z4O
— Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) June 23, 2021
