A UK-based NGO, Hong Kong Watch, has characterised media freedom in Hong Kong as “dire” and “completely dismantled” with multiple restrictions on journalists, in a report released on April 26.

The report, In the Firing Line: The Crackdown on Media Freedom in Hong Kong, includes interviews with 10 journalists. It also contains case studies on independent media organisations in Hong Kong that were forced to shut down after China introduced the National Security Law here in 2020 – until which time Hong Kong had enjoyed a higher degree of autonomy and freedom than mainland China.

Since July 2020, the report said, 18 journalists have been arrested and 12 are in prison awaiting trial.

“The Hong Kong government is using a combination of the National Security Law and antiquated common law charges like ‘sedition’ under the Crimes Ordinance to wage lawfare against journalists,” the report said.

Citing the closure of independent, “pro-democracy” media organisations like Apple Daily and Stand News last year, the report said public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong has “lost all editorial independence and objectivity”. It accused the police of introducing “a new definition” of journalist, “effectively imposing restrictions on freelance reporters, online journalists, student journalists and citizen journalists”. Foreign journalists have also been facing challenges in securing or renewing their visas.

The report urged the international community to raise press freedom issues and “demand” the release of journalists, while also calling for “international mechanisms” to “pressure the Hong Kong government to recommit to upholding the Basic Law which guarantees a free press”.