14 DAY TRIAL // The Anonymous hacktivists behind the YourAnonNews project say they’re close to launching the news website for which they’ve secured $55,000 (€42,000) via crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
In a statement released a few hours ago, YourAnonNews representatives revealed that they would provide a “solid launch date” for the service in the upcoming period.
“In regards to the website, we've been working hard to design something clean and practical, but also fun to use. Twitter is heavily integrated - Facebook, not so much,” the statement reads.
“Recently, we decided to ditch public comments entirely and replace it with a social chat feature instead. The way we see it, comments are rarely used to their full potential anymore and your friends will be more likely to enjoy your responses this way.”
The site will apparently aggregate content from external sources, including independent media websites, and Vimeo and YouTube videos. However, the content will be distributed only with the source’s permission.
“We are introducing a strict aggregation policy, however. While we believe information should be free, we also understand the value of journalism as a profession - *cough*Sun Times,” the initiators of the YAN project wrote.
Content submitted by the public will also be accepted, but only if it lives up to certain quality, relevance and authenticity standards.
Over the next days, details will be made available for those who want their content featured in the initial launch.
“It’s time to start getting the real news out there, to everyone. We have to stop relying on big corporations to do that for us,” the statement concludes.
In the meantime, YourAnonNews representatives are busy boxing the thousands of hoodies, mugs and t-shirts they’ve promised to those who have donated to the project via Indiegogo. They said they weren’t expecting such a “massive mailing operation,” considering that they originally only hoped to raise $2,000 (€1,500).