HONG KONG (Reuters) - Dozens of Hong Kong journalists and their families have been harassed and intimidated online and in person over the last three months starting from June, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said on Friday.
Selina Cheng, HKJA chairperson, said the threats and sharing of false and defamatory content damage press freedom in Hong Kong and should not be tolerated.
"I think this is the largest scale harassment against reporters in Hong Kong that we have thus far known of," Cheng said.
"I don't believe this is right, and that's why we are making a loud call today to say that we do not accept such behaviour."
The targeted journalists, media companies and organizations include HKJA's executive committee and 13 media outlets including Hong Kong Free Press, Inmediahk, HK Feature, and two journalism education institutions, she said.
At least 15 journalists, their families and associates - including landlords, charities, schools and private businesses - have received anonymous complaints by email or letter from self-proclaimed "patriots", the HKJA said. Cheng said two of her family members has received such complaints.
Some journalists or their associates were targeted in private Facebook groups. In at least four cases, trolls used Facebook and Wikipedia to make violent threats, including death threats, Cheng said.
Two editors were recently convicted of sedition, the first for sedition against any journalist or editor since Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China in 1997, and coming amid a years-long national security clampdown by authorities after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Hong Kong as 135th in its global media freedom index in 2024.
HKJA said they have contacted Meta and the Wikimedia Foundation for this harassment campaign and they have launched their investigations.
Wikimedia identified a Wikipedia user who posted reporters' personal information using multiple accounts and banned their presence on the platform, HKJA said.
HKJA added that they were able to find this user's identity and had reported to the police and the Office Of The Privacy Commissioner For Personal Data.
HKJA said several targeted individuals over the past few months have also complained to the police and the privacy commissioner's office.
Hong Kong Police, Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Wikimedia Foundation Trust & Safety, and Meta , owner of Facebook, did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment.
Tom Grundy, director and founder of Hong Kong Free Press, told Reuters that his landlord and local property agencies were sent anonymous letters making "wild claims and threatening 'unimaginable consequences' and 'collateral damage'" unless he was evicted.
Inmedia told Reuters in a statement "an employee of the news site received harassment messages involving personal data."
HK Feature told Reuters in a statement they were "shocked by the varying degrees of harassment of our journalists and their relatives."
"We hope the public will take journalism work seriously and support our work, so that reporting can be free from fear."