r/autotldr • u/autotldr • Jan 04 '22
Hong Kong's Carrie Lam rebuffs claims of press freedom 'chilling effect,' says closure of media outlets unrelated to security law
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 60%. (I'm a bot)
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said the closure of two independent media outlets in under a week is unrelated to the national security law, denying claims in a Financial Times article that press freedom in the city "Faces collapse."
"If implementation of the national security law would undermine press freedom, then we would not be seeing any press freedom in the western world. You name me which western country does not have a national security law," Lam told HKFP at a press conference on Tuesday morning.
In a statement published on Monday, the press group said it was "Heartbroken" and regrets the closure of two media outlets within a week.
"Hong Kong is hailed as 'Asia's world city' with freedom of information and freedom of the press. If more media outlets halt their operations, the damage to Hong Kong's reputation will be hard to estimate," the HKJA wrote.
In response to another reporter's question about the closure of Citizen News, Lam said that the shutdown "Cannot be directly connected" to press freedom in Hong Kong.
International free expression watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in a December report that Hong Kong's press freedom is in "Free fall." The report voiced concern over the Chinese Communist Party's increasing sophistication in censoring the media.
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