Description
Apple Daily was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded 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 remained operational online for a time in Taiwan under a joint venture between Next Digital and other Taiwanese companies.
In a Reuters Institute poll conducted in early 2021, Apple Daily was the fourth most-used offline source of news in Hong Kong, while its website was the second most-used among online news media in the city. According to a survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Apple Daily was the third most trusted paid newspaper in 2019.
Apple Daily's editorial position favoring the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong made it a subject of advertising boycotts and political pressure. After the controversial Hong Kong national security law was enacted, police raided its headquarters on 10 August 2020, a police operation criticized by some democratic governments and press rights groups.
On 17 June 2021, Hong Kong authorities used the Hong Kong national security law to freeze the assets of the company and Jimmy Lai. This move was widely described as an attack on press freedom. As a result of the asset freeze, Apple Daily was unable to pay wages and electricity bills, and had to cease operations. The final print edition was published on 24 June, with over a million copies being printed, up from the usual 80,000, and the newspaper's supporters lined up in queues stretching hundreds of meters in order to buy them. The newspaper's main and supplementary YouTube channel, "Fruit Seed", also shut down at midnight on the same day.
