On World Press Freedom Day, Hong Kong Watch calls for the release of journalists

Today is World Press Freedom Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 to celebrate the principles of the freedom of the press and to protect the media from attacks on press freedom. 

This year, freedom of the press in Hong Kong has tumbled to new lows, with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) downgrading Hong Kong five places in its annual Press Freedom Index to 140th out of 180 countries, and with the situation of press freedom scoring in the ‘very serious’ class, the worst ranking, for the first time. 

In 2010, Hong Kong was placed at 34th in the Press Freedom Index, although this had declined to 80th place by 2020. Thereafter, following the passing of the National Security Law, Hong Kong dropped severely, culminating in its current position at 140th. 

Commenting on the new rankings, RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Advocacy Officer Aleksandra Bielakowska⁩ stated that they ‘have never seen such a sharp and rapid deterioration in the press freedom record of any country or territory’.

This deterioration has been marked by further instances of the jailing of journalists. In September 2024, the former chief editor of independent Hong Kong media outlet Stand News, Chung Pui-kuen, was jailed for one year and nine months over publishing ‘seditious’ materials, under colonial-era laws that have since been supplanted, and intensified, by repressive new sedition laws under the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. 

Former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, who had already served 10 months in pre-trial detention while suffering from deteriorating health due to a serious immune system condition, was also found guilty of ‘conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications,’ but released on medical grounds.

On 19 November 2024, during the ‘Trial of the 47 Democrats’, three media figures were sentenced to prison: media founder Frankie Fung, former Stand News journalist Gwyneth Ho, and former journalist and former legislator Claudia Mo. These three individuals were convicted under the Beijing-imposed 2020 National Security Law for crimes including ‘subversion’ and ‘conspiracy to subversion’. Claudia Mo, who received a reduced sentence after pleading guilty, was released on 30 April this year.

This year also saw the recommencement of the trial of Apple Daily co-founder, entrepreneur and British citizen Jimmy Lai. Mr Lai has been in detention since December 2020, mostly in solitary confinement and with limited access to medical assistance. In March 2025, Mr Lai concluded 52 days of courtroom testimony on two charges of ‘foreign collusion’ and one count of ‘publishing seditious material’. Mr Lai faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Concluding arguments are now expected on 28 July 2025.

Thomas Benson, Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, commented:

“On this World Press Freedom Day, we once again assert that journalism is not a crime. In the past year the unprecedented deterioration in Hong Kong’s press freedoms has continued unabated, with the first conviction under colonial-era sedition laws since the handover in 1997. The only thing which can stop further deterioration is for governments to place pressure on the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong to uphold their international legal obligations, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners, including Jimmy Lai, currently detained or imprisoned for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and of the press.”