Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is outraged by the harassment campaign unfolding on multiple fronts against the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and its members in the lead-up to the election of its executive committee. HKJA is one of the last independent organisations supporting a media landscape shattered by the draconian National Security Law. RSF calls on the international community to take firm action in support of what remains of independent journalism in the territory.
In the past week, candidates for the executive committee of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), which will hold elections on Saturday 8 August, have been subjected to online and offline attacks by pro-Beijing actors.
Since 2 August, RSF has noted an escalation in attacks on the social media platforms Facebook, Threads, and YouTube. Various accounts are sharing journalists' photos, names and personal information without their consent and hurling personal insults that are often racist and gender-based. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Threads, has removed several of these posts for violating its harassment policies, yet the coordinated campaign continues, threatening journalists' safety.
Alongside these online attacks, Hong Kong propaganda media outlets — such as Bastille Post, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, and East Weekly — have published articles targeting the HKJA and its member journalists, accusing the association of colluding with “anti-China” and “pro-chaos” forces, and smearing “human rights and press freedom.” These narratives have, in turn, been amplified on YouTube by political commentators whose public positions broadly align with those of Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp and Beijing. According to RSF information, family members of the targeted journalists also received copies of these articles, in what appears to be a clear attempt to intimidate them.
On 7 August, Hong Kong Security Secretary Chris Tang further fueled the harassment by claiming at a press conference that the HKJA supported the “2019 rioters” and by defending the detention of Hong Kong independent media executive Jimmy Lai. He also warned that certain organisations “abusing the name of ‘associations’” that engage in activities unrelated to their stated purposes would be investigated, adding that they could face legal consequences if found to be involved in “collusion with foreign forces” or “subversion of state power.”
“We condemn the continued harassment campaign targeting the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). We firmly support the association and what is left of the independent media community in Hong Kong. These latest attempts to intimidate members of the free press are a clear effort to discourage journalists from defending and supporting the severely weakened media environment via the association. The courage and dedication of journalists reporting from one of the world’s most restrictive environments for press freedom are commendable. We call on the international community to take firm action in support of Hong Kong’s remaining journalists and the HKJA. We cannot allow Beijing to dismantle what remains of the territory’s independent journalism community.
Hong Kong’s continued crackdown on press freedom
RSF has observed similar tactics aimed at intimidating and discrediting journalists, media organisations, and international NGOs in the past in Hong Kong, a territory that was slowly handed over to China by the British since 1997. The multifaceted campaign against HKJA mirrors the Chinese regime’s strategy of targeting journalists, demonstrating how closely Hong Kong’s authorities and propaganda outlets have adopted Beijing’s methods.
Since 2024, RSF and other organisations, including the HKJA, have documented attacks such as doxxing, death threats, surveillance, stalking and intimidating messages against local and foreign media outlets — including the news sites InmediaHK, HK Feature and Hong Kong Free Press — as well as HKJA members, two journalism schools and many individual journalists and their family members, neighbours and associates. What’s more, at least 20 individuals and seven independent media organisations, including the HKJA, have been targeted by Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) in the past two years through a series of allegedly random tax audits, adding yet another form of pressure on media organisations.
In 2020, Hong Kong’s National Security Law was introduced, kicking off the authorities' relentless war on the right to information. At least 28 journalists and press freedom defenders have been prosecuted, with 8 currently behind bars. Among them is Jimmy Lai, the founder of the shuttered independent newspaper Apple Daily, who was recently found guilty in a sham trial orchestrated by the Chinese regime. His health deteriorated significantly behind bars, and RSF has repeatedly warned that he could die in prison if not released immediately.
Today, Hong Kong ranks 140th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index, having plummeted from 18th place in just two decades. China ranks 178th.
