A dark day for journalists and press freedom in Hong Kong

 

Remember, do not forget

 

Yesterday, RTHK's Hong Kong Connection: Who Owns the Truth? episode about the July 21st, 2019, Yuen Long mob attacks was named as this year's recipient of the prestigious annual Kam Yiu-yu Press Freedom Award.  One of the judges, University of Hong Kong’s associate journalism professor Fu King-wa, praised the work and said that: "Through detailed and professional use of public records, examinations of raw surveillance footage and interviews with key figures, the report raised important leads that the people in power refused to respond to." 

 

Today, one of the program's producers, Bao Choy, was adjudged to have been guilty of improper searches of an online car licence plate database while conducting an investigation aimed at identifying some of the perpetrators of the 2019 Yuen Long attack.  Such is the situation in Hong Kong these days that I expected her to be giving a jail sentence and felt relief that she was "only" fined HK$6,000 for her "offences". 

 

But make no mistake: Bao Choy's conviction today was a dark day for journalists in Hong Kong.  For, as she herself proceeded to point out: "The court ruled that searching for public information or access to public data is no longer allowed in Hong Kong, a civilised city where once we were well known for our transparency and accountability."  

 

Actually, her conviction is a dark day for Hong Kong in general; this not least because, as fellow journalist Alex Lam noted, Bao Choy is the very first person to have been found guilty in court of a crime related to the July 21st, 2019, attack -- rather than, say any of the white-shirted individuals who carried out the attacks on innocent people that fateful night or those who encouraged or even ordered those violent acts to be perpetuated.

 

Also, her arrest last November on these charges already constituted a significant blow for press freedom as, right there and then, it caused not only a weight to be placed on her but also pretty obviously held her up as an example of what can happen if you seek to uncover the truth that the police and authorities in general would prefer people to be in the dark about (and have taken to trying to present an alternative history of).  At a time when press freedom in Hong Kong has deteriorated (with the latest Reporters Without Borders’ "World Press Freedom Index" placing Hong Kong in 80th spot; down from 18th in 2002), it is important to understand why having press freedom matters. 

 

One easy way to do so: imagine what those who are apt to liar unashamedly as well as attack people even when the cameras are rolling would do if the press were not there to report on their actions (like the likes of Gwyneth Ho did in Yuen Long on July 21st, 2019) and investigate them in depth (like Bao Choy did for Hong Kong Connection).  As a contemporary updating of Pastor Niemoller's famous poem, quoted by Rappler's Maria Resse, goes: "First they came for the journalists. We don’t know what happened after that."