Release: Greenhouse Project

As the first article in the censorship resistance Greenhouse Project, we present Appin Uncensored, after a Reuters wire service article was suppressed by judicial action in India

Original photo caption: “Appin codirectors Anuj Khare (left) and Rajat Khare (center), celebrate at a party in New Delhi in or around 2007. The company pioneered an e-commerce-style spy service. Handout via REUTERS” Source

On November 16, 2023 Reuters published a special report titled How an Indian startup hacked the world, documenting how the Indian firm Appin "grew from an educational startup to a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials and wealthy elites around the globe."

In response to the exposé, Appin filed a lawsuit in India against Reuters. Following a preliminary court order issued by a district court in New Delhi on December 4, 2023, Reuters temporarily removed the article, noting that it "stands by its reporting and plans to appeal the decision." Following this, several other outlets such as Lawfare also removed some of their secondary reporting and the Reuters article has been removed from the Internet Archive, effectively censoring the information.

In response to the unacceptable censorship by Appin and the Indian courts, Distributed Denial of Secrets is launching a new initiative to combat censorship: the Greenhouse Project and its first article: Appin Uncensored. The Greenhouse Project continues DDoSecrets' mission of ensuring the free transmission of data in the public interest by making the 'publisher of last resort' concept proposed by George Buchanan in 2007 a reality. By ensuring the reporting and source files are preserved, the Greenhouse Project builds on previous efforts creating a "warming effect" to reverse the chilling effects of censorship.

You can download the source files behind the reporting here or via censorship-resistant torrent here.

Fair Use Notice

The text of Appin Uncensored is presented under Fair Use, to archive and preserve material and information censored by those whose actions were exposed in it. All copyright is retained by the original authors.

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