HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) reported on September 13 that numerous journalists and their families have faced harassment and intimidation, both online and in person, over the past three months starting from June.
HKJA Chairperson Selina Cheng condemned the threats and the spread of false, defamatory content as damaging to press freedom in Hong Kong. The harassment has targeted journalists and media organizations, including HKJA’s executive committee, Hong Kong Free Press, Inmediahk, HK Feature, as well as 13 other media outlets and two journalism education institutions.
The HKJA reported that at least 15 journalists, their families, and associates have received anonymous threats from self-proclaimed “patriots.” Some of these threats were made via private Facebook groups, while others involved violent and death threats disseminated through Facebook and Wikipedia.
This surge in harassment follows recent convictions of two editors for sedition, marking the first such cases against journalists since Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. These convictions are part of a broader national security crackdown that has intensified since the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Hong Kong’s media freedom has significantly deteriorated, with Reporters Without Borders ranking the city 135th in its global media freedom index for 2024.
Several targeted individuals have reported the harassment to local police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. However, responses from Hong Kong Police, the Privacy Commissioner’s office, Wikimedia Foundation Trust & Safety, and Meta (owner of Facebook) were not immediately available.
Tom Grundy, Director and Founder of Hong Kong Free Press, revealed that his landlord and local property agencies received anonymous threats demanding his eviction under the threat of “unimaginable consequences.”
Inmediahk and HK Feature also reported receiving harassment, including messages involving personal data. Both organizations expressed shock at the scale of the harassment and called for public support to ensure journalism remains free from fear.