A press release on Wednesday stated that at least five local media shops in Hong Kong and several editors had their income from years past investigated on “unreasonable basis.” Since Beijing clamped down on dissent after massive, often harsh pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019, Hong Kong’s media freedom position has dropped. The Hong Kong tax government claimed that a number of online news sources, journalists, and members of their families had not fully reported their revenue from 2017 to 2019. Due to this, backdated demands have been issued, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association ( HKJA ). The HKJA’s impacted media stores included the Hong Kong Free Press, Inmedia, and The Witness, a news website dedicated to covering court situations, as well as two people, according to the association’s statement to investigators. The tax office claimed back money for “bizarre” factors, including measuring non-existent earnings from before one of the stores was founded, according to HKJA. The organization, herself, and her kids were likewise impacted, according to Selina Cheng, the HKJA’s chairperson and former Wall Street Journal writer. According to local media, Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department ( IRD ) claimed to have followed the legal system and that its actions weren’t directed at particular industries. IRD further stated that it would not discuss “individual situations.” In an annual study conducted last year, Hong Kong journalists cited concerns about sweeping national protection laws as reasons why the state’s press freedom was rated lower than ever. A domestic security law passed in March 2024 that punishes crimes like espionage and foreign interference was” significantly” impacted by the city’s press freedom, according to more than 90 % of the journalists surveyed. The next time a financial hub passed a similar law, the next coming after Beijing’s pro-democracy protests in 2020, was popularly known as Article 23. Hong Kong’s protection laws “target a very small number of individuals who greatly endanger regional security, no law-abiding media reporters,” according to China’s international ministry.
