CNN - Fake News aggregator, steemit.com, has been shut down by authorities, late Thursday.
The nearly two-hour hearing before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals came about two months after a federal judge in Virginia postponed closure of the site. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang concluded that the site likely incites hate, as well as other criminal content. The site owners informed CNN that they would appeal the decision.
The judges used the first half hour of the hearing to question the Steemit, Inc. CEO, Ned Scott.
Scott, who regularly reviewed and downloaded articles from the blockchain, provided CNN five thousand examples he said he saved. The STEEM blockchain continued to receive posts, even though the steemit.com site was shut down.
"There has been tremendous pushback from the users that understand blockchain technology," Scott said. "Essentially this is going to have very little effect on the content being posted. It only affects a single front-end."
Obviously, just because of a single front-end closure on a single blockchain doesn't mean the thousands of other blockchains are going to vanish on the spot. However, the ban and its implications could have a chilling effect on the future of new blockchain technology.
Several key cyberterrorism officials say that bans on this kind of blockchain technology will make the US more safe.
CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.