Earn Coin
Mining
Play Games
Our Coin
Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, announces her group's finding over harassment against the city's journalists at a news conference in Hong Kong Friday. (AP)The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) on Friday, condemned a recent spate of harassment targeting journalists in the city calling it “systematic and organised attack”. Over the past few months, journalists from more than 15 media outlets have been subjected to these attacks that included death threats, defamatory complaints, and threats to personal safety.
According to Selina Cheng, chair of the HKJA, the harassment has taken various forms, such as emails, letters to workplaces, social media attacks, and threats to family members. Some journalists have been pressured to leave their profession or union positions. The HKJA has described this wave of intimidation as severe and concerning.
Cheng stressed, “This type of intimidation and harassment, which includes sharing false and defamatory content and death threats, damages press freedom in Hong Kong, and we should not tolerate it. HKJA and I believe all journalists in Hong Kong welcome criticism and debate. This is not it.”
Among the targets were international and local outlets such as Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), In Media, and HK Feature, as well as members of the HKJA executive committee and journalistic education institutions. Cheng indicated that the harassment appeared aimed at the journalistic community as a whole, rather than specific individuals.
The harassment primarily took the form of similarly worded anonymous complaints from individuals identifying as “patriots.” Some recipients were warned they could be violating national security laws by associating with certain journalists.
HKJA has raised alarm over the escalating harassment of journalists, including the online disclosure of personal information such as home addresses. However, source of this leaked information is unknown, sparking further concern.
This trend is part of a broader crackdown on press freedom in Hong Kong, which has intensified since the implementation of the national security law and the suppression of the pro-democracy movement. Several prominent media outlets, including Apple Daily and Stand News, have been forced to shut down, while numerous journalists and editors face legal prosecution.
The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) has also fallen victim to this harassment, with its director and editor-in-chief, Tom Grundy, receiving threatening letters demanding his eviction. Grundy has reported these incidents to the police, marking the third time in recent years that HKFP has done so.
Cheng also mentioned that HKJA had reached out to Meta and the Wikimedia Foundation, both of which initiated investigations into the incidents. Wikimedia blocked one user who had posted personal information through multiple accounts. Legal action remains a possibility, and the association has reported the incidents to the police.
(With inputs from The Guardian and Associated Press)
Spin Wheel
Miner
Play & Win