Hong Kong, April 26 (Representative) The National Security Law by Chinese government has almost completely dismantled free media in Hong Kong, clearing the market for pro-Beijing and state-owned media sector, according to a report by UK-based advocacy group Hong Kong Watch. The report released shortly after Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondent’s Club announced that it was suspending the Human Rights Press Awards as it did not want to unintentionally violate the Beijing-imposed national security law. The meeting was held on April 24 wherein some members discussed the risk of being investigated by national security police if the awards went ahead..
Following the scrapping of Human Rights Press Awards, several members of the club’s press freedom committee have tendered their resignations. The Guardian quoted the report as stating that the working environment for local and foreign journalists in Hong Kong has become increasingly difficult amid the widespread use of “lawfare” against journalists – including with the national security law – acts of intimidation and police violence, mass sackings, and government intervention or censorship of outlets. Since the pro-democracy protests in 2019, crackdown on free press has resulted in shutting down of Apple Daily, Stand News and several others. A government intervention into RTHK has stripped the public broadcaster of its former editorial independence, and a chilling effect has spread across remaining media, with some engaging in alarming self-censorship, The Guardian reported. One such example is of the attempt to report the November 2019 attack on pro-democracy councillor Andrew Chiu, who ear was bitten off.
“The script that the editor provided said that Mr Chiu’s ear fell off naturally, somehow. Nobody did anything, it was not a bite, and the ear just fell to the floor. The editors did not want to cover violence by pro-Beijing ‘blue’ supporters,” said Chris Wong, a former news presenter with the TVB broadcaster. He further said that the journalists were ordered to call protesters “black shirts” and not cover their press conferences. The Human Rights Watch report has also a detailed account of multiple acts of police violence against journalists during the protests. According to The Guardian, the Hong Kong Watch has called for international governments to offer pathways and assistance to fleeing Hong Kong journalists who want to emigrate, and to continue Cantonese language media from overseas. It also urged governments to use Magnitsky-style sanctions and other forms of pressure to encourage the Hong Kong government to restore media freedoms.