Hong Kong press freedom rebounds slightly from historic low, reflecting ‘resilience,’ journalists’ union says

Hong Kong press freedom has shown a slight rebound from a historic low, according to a trade union’s survey of journalists in the city, refl...

Hong Kong press freedom has shown a slight rebound from a historic low, according to a trade union’s survey of journalists in the city, reflecting what the group calls the “resilience” of the media sector.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) released its latest “Press Freedom Index” on Friday, based on a survey conducted between March 2024 and September 2025. A total of 220 journalists took part in the poll.

According to the survey, the press freedom index stood at 28.9 points on a hundred-point scale, a score that the HKJA said remained “extremely low” and did not reflect “any substantive improvement in Hong Kong’s press freedom landscape.”

The press freedom index began to decline in 2019, the same year that widespread protests broke out across the city in response to a proposed extradition law.

It recorded a historic low of 25 points in 2023, the year Hong Kong enacted the local security law, called the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, or Article 23 – three years after the central government imposed a national security law on the city.

“The HKJA attributes the perceived improvement to journalists adapting to the current media environment while simultaneously seeking ways to navigate challenges to press freedom,” the press union said.

“The HKJA believes the index’s rebound in this survey does not indicate a significant improvement in Hong Kong’s press freedom over the past year, but rather reflects the resilience of Hong Kong journalists in the current landscape,” the press union said.

It pointed out that between March last year and September this year, certain press freedom incidents, such as the denial of visas for some foreign journalists, had become “normalised,” while the local press “actively adapted to the current media environment.”

Most recently, in August, Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins was denied a work visa renewal by the Immigration Department, with no reason given, according to the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC).

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, ahead of the report release, HKJA chair Selina Cheng also highlighted the resilience of the media sector.

“Of course, we all have to learn to acclimatise to current conditions,” by understanding the boundaries of the law, as well as the types of reporting and quotes that might be considered risky, she added.

Self-censorship

The HKJA’s annual survey evaluates press freedom in Hong Kong based on 10 factors, including hesitation when criticising the central and local governments, whether owners or managers exert pressure at work, whether the media can perform its function as a watchdog, and whether there is self-censorship.

The lowest-scoring item in the 2024-25 survey was “self-censorship by news media,” which scored 1.8 points on the 10-point scale, remaining unchanged from 2023.

According to the HKJA, this indicated “its negative impact on the overall press freedom index” and could not be separated from the 2020 national security law.

“Self-censorship among Hong Kong news media is not a new phenomenon. In fact, since the News Index survey began in 2013, self-censorship has consistently been one of the lowest-scoring factors, profoundly impacting Hong Kong’s press freedom,” the HKJA said.

However, it added, “Since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020, media outlets have faced accusations of endangering national security, and the chilling effect within society has further intensified the degree of self-censorship.”

The most prevalent form of self-censorship was by reporters themselves, not their superiors or the management, out of personal fear that their reporting might lead to negative consequences, the press union said.

According to a survey released by the FCC in April, 65 per cent of its members said they had self-censored in the past 18 months.

For the first time, the HKJA survey did not include the public rating section, due to “budgetary and environmental constraints.”

It was a departure from previous years, when the union commissioned the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) to survey members of the public on their views of the press freedom situation.

PORI said in February that it would suspend all self-funded research and may “even close down,” weeks after its CEO, Robert Chung, was investigated by national security police over ties to the pollster’s former chief, Chung Kim-wah.

However, the public rating may return in the future. The press union still partners with the pollster, and both parties will work to resolve challenges so that they might continue conducting surveys, Cheng said at Tuesday’s press conference.

The HKJA “is a small union; our board works entirely pro bono. We’re not able to run the polls ourselves. In any case, we’ll always need a partner, and I’m confident that we’ll still be able to do it in the next 10 years,” she said.

The HKJA revealed in September that journalists from at least 13 media outlets in Hong Kong, including HKFP, had been harassed online and offline in what appeared to be a “systematic and organised attack.”

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the security law. Watchdogs cite the arrest of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets, including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many have emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.

Authorities, however, have maintained that press freedom is “respected and protected” in Hong Kong.

In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Although he has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” government departments have been reluctant to respond to story pitches.