Hong Kong suffers another major blow to press freedom

As the authorities are attacking pro-democracy journalists and media outlets, press freedom continues to erode in Hong Kong.

On 12 December last year, Patrick Lam, the acting editor in chief of the shuttered pro-democracy digital media platform Standnews, was escorted from his home in one of Hong Kong's high-rise residential buildings by uniformed police officers. 

Six other staffers and former board members of the media outlet were arrested that same morning for alleged conspiring to publish seditious materials. Hong Kong's press freedom took yet another blow with the forced closure of its oldest and largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, just four months prior. 

As part of its shutdown, Standnews deleted all content from its website and social media channels. 

Western nations were outraged by the arrests. Peter Stano, the European Union's spokesperson for external affairs, called the raid "another infringement of press freedom in Hong Kong," while Amanda Milling, the UK's minister of state, condemned the arrests, calling them an attempt to "erode freedom of speech." 

Denise Ho, one of the arrested board members, has been vocal about her anti-government politics since 2014. During her speeches to the UN and the US Congress, she urged the international community to punish Hong Kong for oppressing its residents.  

Following the arrests, Citizen News, another pro-democracy outlet, closed its doors due to a "declining media environment." 

The leader of Hong Kong denied that the arrests and closures are related to press freedom in the city. 

* This article contains information sourced from Fair Planet.