PUBLIQ, a non-profit foundation, is announcing its upcoming blockchain-based platform for creating and sharing original news and media content. The ICO is designed to empower authors and readers to combat fake news, using a “Bitcoin-like” system. File this under: “2017 in a nutshell.”

In the fight against fake news this means publishers who have no way of controlling authored content without resorting to censorship, or entrusting community monitors, could be on the chopping block.

PUBLIQ intends to create a trusted economy, using blockchain, where all profits gained through its platform will be distributed between content providers and others participating in its inherent rewards system.

The foundation will be launching an ICO to provide a rewards token called PBQ. These tokens will be utility-based; they’ll allow authors to post and advertisers to sponsor channels, for example. PUBLIQ’s coin will also provide incentive for seeders and readers who participate in the platform as well.

When an author posts on PUBLIQ, readers will have options to like, share, and flag the article, thus generating reputation for both the channel and author. Writers with higher reputations will be more likely to get read, and will garner higher rewards.

The security of a blockchain-based news dissemination platform comes from its immutable sealing system. Every story is encrypted on the blockchain and shared over a peer-to-peer network, in the same way a Bitcoin transaction is. This is accomplished by using smart contracts to execute interactions, such as likes and shares, without fear of external manipulation by bad actors or malware like Faceliker.

PUBLIQ Co-founder Gagik Yeghiazarian told TNW the foundation was originally conceived as a public company operating without borders:

To our surprise, we were not able to find any jurisdiction that could “handle” such an enterprise.  The most important issue we were facing was “how to make total strangers from all over the world trust to work with each other, let alone trust that we, as initiators, would be able to deliver on our promise to give all the proceeds back to the writers.”
The team found that blockchain could solve most of its problems, Yeghiazarian went on:

We then started investigating the concept and realized that this technology solved all our issues: trust, immutability, IP right protection, identification issue, global distribution, decentralized operation, engagement the full potential of a larger community in all aspects of the venture, and many more.