Hong Kong remains 140th in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) global press freedom index out of 180 countries and territories, with the NGO highlighting the 20-year sentence handed down to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai earlier this year.
The press freedom watchdog published its annual index on Thursday, ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.
Hong Kong’s position is unchanged from last year. In 140th place, between Rwanda and Syria, the city also remains in the “red zone” – meaning a “very serious” situation.
Press freedom indices have fallen since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, following pro-democracy protests and unrest that began last summer.
In 2019, it was in 73rd place. From 2021 to 2022, he dropped from 80 to 148after the independent media outlets Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News were closed under pressure from the authorities.
Hong Kong has been ranked higher in subsequent years, although RSF has said this was mainly due to changing situations in other countries. The city’s press freedom score has fallen steadily, from 41.64 inches 2022 to 39.49 this year.
RSF said in a press release that press freedom was at a “25-year low” worldwide, with the average score across all countries and territories reaching a record low.
See also: Explainer: Declining Hong Kong press freedom under national security law
The US fell seven places, and other countries in the Americas, including Ecuador and Peru, also fell.
Meanwhile, Norway ranks first for the tenth consecutive year, followed by the Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark and Sweden.
In Asia, Taiwan is the top-ranked country at 28. China was ranked 178th, just behind Iran, with North Korea and Eritrea at the bottom of the list.
‘systemic collapse’
RSF’s Asia Pacific head of advocacy, Aleksandra Bielakowska, told HKFP on Wednesday that Hong Kong had seen a “systemic collapse” in its press freedoms.
The city was ranked 18th in 2002, the first year the index was published, she said.
“Hong Kong has been a bastion of free press, not only regionally, but globally,” said Bielakowska.
She said that in recent years, authorities have pursued various ways to discourage media from reporting independently, including denying visas to journalists or denying him entry Hong Kong.
Journalists have also reported being followed by unknown persons. Recently, in April, InMedia media her reporters said had received harassing messages “over the past few months” and suspected they were being stalked for work.
When the Hong Kong Journalists Association wrote to the Security Bureau about this, the bureau accused the association of “baseless speculation” that law enforcement was chasing journalists.
Aleksandra said this was in line with the authorities’ trend to dismiss allegations of harassment of journalists as “rumours”. She said there were “strong indications” that authorities were targeting journalists through “centralized operations”.
Declining press freedom
In a press release published on Thursday, RSF referred to February the imprisonment of the pro-democracy media mogul Laifounder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.
The Observer wrote that “a draconian national security law has allowed authorities to imprison freelance publisher Jimmy Lai, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.”
Lai’s sentence is the longest ever handed down under the national security law. He was pleaded guilty in December of conspiracy to cooperate with foreign forces and of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
Six former Apple Daily employees were is also sentenced to 10 years in prisonwith the judges saying they played “affirmative and expansive roles”.
In recent years, there have been reports of journalists being refused visas or entry into Hong Kong. The independent media sector has been targeted by tax auditswhile the journalists have said that they believe they were being followed.
Authorities, however, have maintained that the city continues to enjoy a large degree of press freedom.
After Lai was convicted, the government said in a STATEMENT that she condemned claims that Lai was the victim of “political persecution”.
“The case… has nothing to do with freedom of the press. Over the years, the defendants used journalism as a cover to carry out actions that harmed our country and Hong Kong,” the government said.
