A.Us fear of state repression, another news portal in Hong Kong ceases operations. The independent online medium “Citizen News” announced with a heavy heart that from Tuesday no more new content would be placed on the website and that it would be switched off after five years of existence. The decisive factor for the decision was “the fate of ‘Stand News'”, said a leading editor on Monday. The online portal “Stand News” was shut down last week after the police arrested seven journalists and supporters of the medium, searched the editorial offices and confiscated assets.
The “Citizen News” team announced that the platform was in a “critical situation” and had to protect the “safety and well-being” of its employees and fellow campaigners. “Unfortunately, we can no longer implement our convictions in reality without fear because of the major changes in society over the past two years and because of the worsening media climate,” said the statement that was broadcast on Facebook on Sunday evening.
“Fighting hurricanes and tsunamis”
The portal thanked its readers and subscribers and wrote: “We will always appreciate the incredible journey of the past five years.” The editors compared their own work with a boat that no longer only with wind and rain, but with “hurricanes and tsunamis” have to fight. Nothing was known about possible investigations against their journalists.
Citizen News is the third non-governmental media company in Hong Kong to be dissolved within a few months. In June, the daily newspaper “Apple Daily” of the media entrepreneur and democracy activist Jimmy Lai stopped working after 26 years. Lai was recognized by Reporters Without Borders for his contributions to the freedom of the press. He is serving a 20-month prison sentence and is also charged with violating the so-called national security law.
Since the law came into force in July 2020, freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Hong Kong have been massively restricted. Last week, “Stand News” ended. The last two editors-in-chief of the portal were arrested for “conspiracy to publish inflammatory content” and are in custody. Some of their alleged co-conspirators have been released on bail, including singer and activist Denise Ho, who is a Canadian citizen. She had been a member of the board of directors of “Stand News”, but resigned from this position in the summer. During the raid on the online portal, the police confiscated 62 computers.
Hong Kong security chief John Lee, meanwhile, sharply criticized the “Wall Street Journal”. An opinion piece in the newspaper about the police action against “Stand News” was titled “Nobody is safe in Hong Kong anymore”. John Lee spoke of “insubstantial claims” that have reached “a new level of insolence”.
“Citizen News” was founded five years ago by experienced journalists in order to withstand the climate of self-censorship and the already growing pressure from Beijing. The editorial team of another online medium called Initium, which is also committed to critical and independent reporting, moved from Hong Kong to Singapore in August.