"Apple Daily" favours the Hong Kong pan-democracy camp. Its criticism of the Hong Kong government has been described as a marketing strategy. The newspaper is also said to have sensationalised politics to produce public dissent. In 2003, "Apple Daily" was critical of the Tung Chee-hwa administration and published news articles that encouraged readers to participate in pro-democracy demonstrations with its front-page headline. "Apple Daily" launched a social media campaign in support of student protesters in the 2014 Hong Kong protests and its social media presence was considered a mainstream pro-activist community.