HONG KONG – Dozens of Hong Kong journalists and their families have been harassed and intimidated online and in person over the last three months starting from June, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said on Sept 13.
Ms Selina Cheng, HKJA chairperson, said the threats and sharing of false and defamatory content damage press freedom in Hong Kong and should not be tolerated.
The targeted journalists and media companies and organisations include HKJA’s executive committee, Hong Kong Free Press, Inmediahk, HK Feature, 13 other international and local media outlets, and two journalism education institutions, she said.
At least 15 journalists, their families and associates – including landlords, charities, schools and private businesses – have received anonymous complaints by e-mail or letter from self-proclaimed “patriots”, the HKJA said.
Some journalists or their associates were targeted in private Facebook groups. In at least four cases, trolls used Facebook and Wikipedia to make violent threats, including death threats, Ms Cheng said.
Two editors were recently convicted of sedition, the first for sedition against any journalist or editor since Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China in 1997, and coming amid a years-long national security clampdown by the authorities after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The Reporters Without Borders ranked Hong Kong as 135th in its global media freedom index in 2024.
HKJA said several targeted individuals over the past few months have complained to the police and the privacy commissioner’s office.
Hong Kong Police, Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Wikimedia Foundation Trust & Safety, and Meta, owner of Facebook, did not immediately reply to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Mr Tom Grundy, director and founder of Hong Kong Free Press, told Reuters his landlord and local property agencies were sent anonymous letters making “wild claims and threatening ‘unimaginable consequences’ and ‘collateral damage’” unless he was evicted.
Inmedia told Reuters in a statement “an employee of the news site received harassment messages involving personal data”.
HK Feature told Reuters in a statement they were “shocked by the varying degrees of harassment of our journalists and their relatives”.
“We hope the public will take journalism work seriously and support our work, so that reporting can be free from fear.” REUTERS
