Hong Kong remains at 140th place on Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) global press freedom index of 180 countries and territories, with the NGO highlighting the 20-year sentence handed down to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai earlier this year.

The press freedom watchdog released its annual index on Thursday, ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

Hong Kong’s position is unchanged from last year. At 140th place, between Rwanda and Syria, the city also remains in the “red zone” – meaning a “very serious” situation.

It has tumbled down press freedom indices since Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, in the wake of the pro-democracy protests and unrest that began the summer before.

In 2019, it was at 73rd place. From 2021 to 2022, it fell from 80 to 148, after independent media outlets Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News shuttered under authorities’ pressure.

Hong Kong has ranked higher in subsequent years, though RSF has said this was mostly due to changing situations in other places. The city’s press freedom score has fallen consistently, from 41.64 in 2022 to 39.49 this year.

RSF said in a press release that press freedom was at a “25-year low” across the world, with the average score of all countries and territories hitting a record low.

See also: Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

The US fell seven places, and other countries in the Americas, including Ecuador and Peru, also dropped.

Meanwhile, Norway ranks No. 1 for the 10th straight year, followed by the Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark and Sweden.

In Asia, Taiwan is the highest-ranked place at 28. China placed 178th, just after Iran, with North Korea and Eritrea at the bottom of the list.

‘Systemic collapse’

RSF’s Asia Pacific advocacy manager, Aleksandra Bielakowska, told HKFP on Wednesday that Hong Kong had seen a “systemic collapse” in its press freedoms.

The city ranked 18th in 2002, the first year the index was published, she said.

“Hong Kong used to be a stronghold of free press, not only regionally but globally,” Bielakowska said.

She said that in recent years, authorities have been pursuing different ways of dissuading the media from independent reporting, including denying visas to journalists or barring them from entering Hong Kong.

Reporters have also reported being followed by unknown individuals. Most recently, in April, media outlet InMedia said its journalists had received harassing text messages “in recent months” and suspected they were being stalked after work.

When the Hong Kong Journalists Association wrote to the Security Bureau about it, the bureau accused the association of making “groundless speculations” that law enforcement was following reporters.

Aleksandra said this was in line with the authorities’ trend of dismissing claims of harassment of reporters as “rumours.” She said there were “strong indications” that authorities were targeting reporters via “centralised operations.”

Declining press freedom

In a press release published on Thursday, RSF referred to the February jailing of pro-democracy media mogul Lai, the founder of now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily.

The watchdog wrote that “a draconian national security law has allowed the authorities to imprison independent publisher Jimmy Lai, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.”

Lai’s sentence is the longest to be meted out under the national security law so far. He was found guilty in December of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials.

Six former Apple Daily employees were also jailed for up to 10 years, with judges saying they played “affirmative and extensive roles.”

In recent years, there have been reports of journalists being denied visas or entry to Hong Kong. The independent media sector has been targeted by tax audits, while reporters have said they believed they were being followed.

Authorities, however, have maintained that the city continues to enjoy a large degree of press freedom.

After Lai was sentenced, the government said in a statement that it condemned claims that Lai was the victim of “political prosecution.”

“The… case has nothing to do with freedom of the press at all. Over the years, the defendants were using journalism as a guise to commit acts that brought harm to our country and Hong Kong,” the government said.

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Journalists in the EU face increasing levels of harassment, threats and violence, while news outlets are owned by a shrinking number of proprietors and public trust in the media has plummeted, a report has found.

The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said the findings of its fifth annual media freedom report, released on Tuesday, should place EU officials “on high alert”, with media freedom and pluralism “under sustained attack” across mainland Europe.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said that a French journalist was denied entry to Hong Kong in November, accusing the city’s authorities of “weaponising visas” against foreign media workers.

Antoine Vedeilhe, who was shooting a documentary for French public broadcaster France Télévisions, was questioned upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport on November 2 last year, RSF said in a statement on Friday.

He was detained for three hours before being deported without being given a reason, RSF said.

Vedeilhe was the 13th foreign media workers who has been denied entry or a visa by the city’s authorities following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in 2020, RSF said.

The watchdog said the figure is based on its tally, although it said there is reason to believe many cases have gone unreported due to fear of retaliation.

“On 2 November 2025, [Vedeilhe] was detained for three hours upon arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport… from France, during which he was questioned and subjected to a full-body search before being deported from the territory,” RSF said.

“In the journalist’s view, his detention was a reprisal for his work on a documentary examining Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong.”

Another cameraman for the documentary was able to enter the city, RSF said, but he was followed by “unidentified individuals that he suspects were Hong Kong’s national security police.”

“In the following days, there was a hacking attempt on Vedeilhe’s private email account and his sources in the documentary were harassed by the national security police,” RSF said.

In an emailed reply to HKFP’s enquiries on Friday, the Hong Kong government said it “strongly condemns the smearing remarks and distorted narratives by” RSF.

Hong Kong residents’ human rights and freedoms are protected under China’s constitution and the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – as well as the national security law, the government said.

“As always, the media can exercise their freedom of the press in accordance with the law. Their freedom of commenting on and criticising government policies remains uninhibited as long as this is not in violation of the law,” a government spokesperson said.

The government declined to comment on individual cases. It “accords measures to facilitate the entry of genuine visitors from around the world,” the spokesperson added.

RSF also said France Télévisions received an email from an unknown individual the day after Vedeilhe’s deportation from Hong Kong.

The email warned the French media network that Vedeilhe’s work “comes into conflict” with the national security law and that the outlet’s “editorial choices could be considered ‘incitement to hatred’” – an element of Hong Kong’s sedition offence – according to RSF.

France Télévisions announced the documentary before Vedeilhe’s arrival in Hong Kong, RSF said.

‘Not isolated’

“His case illustrates how closely Hong Kong has aligned itself with China in repressing independent media, and how far the authorities are willing to go in targeting journalists,” RSF’s Asia Pacific advocacy manager, Aleksandra Bielakowska, said in the statement.

Vedeilhe was quoted saying in the statement that he had been travelling to Hong Kong for the past 10 years.

“[I] have always sought to give a voice both to those resisting Beijing’s growing control, and to those within the authorities and civil society who express their attachment to China,” Vedeilhe said.

“My… detention and expulsion are not isolated incidents, and they illustrate how increasingly difficult it has become for journalists to work in Hong Kong,” he added.

Vedeilhe is one of the few to speak openly about being denied entry into Hong Kong.

In August last year, Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins was denied a work visa renewal by the Immigration Department. At that time, RSF said Wilkins was the 10th journalist whose visa had been denied since the national security law came into force.

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing 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.

See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

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.

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Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who has previously worked for PBS, HuffPost, the New York Times, the BBC and Al Jazeera, was arrested on 3 March during a brief visit to Kuwait.

Survivors of the deadly Tai Po fire will be allowed to go in and out of their homes multiple times within their designated three-hour slot, a top government official has said, adding that journalists will not be permitted to tag along.

Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk made the comments on Sunday, a day before fire victims are set to go back to Wang Fuk Court to collect their belongings.

Earlier, authorities had said that residents would only be able to enter their homes once, prompting criticism that the arrangement lacked flexibility.

On Monday, residents of Wang Sun House, one of the estate’s seven fire-ravaged block, will go back to retrieve their belongings for the first time since the November fire. Residents of the other buildings will do so in later batches until May 4.

In an interview with RTHK on Sunday, Cheuk said that “generally speaking,” residents will be allowed to enter their homes more than once to make it more convenient for them to take their belongings.

He said the decision was made after inter-departmental discussions following residents’ feedback.

Cheuk said all residents will be “accompanied” by police or Civil Aid Service officers while returning to their homes, citing a need to protect their neighbours’ property.

Residents should not enter others’ units nor take photos of other apartments, Cheuk added.

The official said around 6,000 people had registered with the government to make trips to their homes. A total of 47 households chose not to return after seeing pictures of their charred apartments taken by authorities.

The coming weeks will be the first time that fire victims will return to their homes since the blaze broke out in late November. The fire, the deadliest in Hong Kong since 1948, claimed 168 lives and displaced thousands of residents.

It was not until late March that authorities announced arrangements for them to return. They said each household would be given a maximum of three hours to gather their items, with a maximum of four people.

Some residents said three hours was too little time for them to pack and bid farewell to their homes. Cheuk then defended the time limit on a Commercial Radio programme.

“With four people and three hours allowed, they would have 12 hours in total to pack,” Cheuk said in Cantonese. The remark draw widespread criticism online.

Days after, Cheuk said authorities would be flexible and allow residents to book more than one three-hour time slot to return to their homes.

Journalists barred

Cheuk said on Sunday that authorities will not allow journalists to tag along with residents to their fire-ravaged homes.

He said some residents reported to the government that journalists wanted to go with them to their flats.

“[The residents] said going up to their homes will be a difficult and sad moment… therefore, they hope not to be disturbed and to enjoy privacy when they pack things,” Cheuk said.

“We will not allow [reporters] to go upstairs,” he added.

A Hong Kong press union has warned that the stalking of journalists has a “chilling effect” on press freedom, after the Security Bureau slammed the group over “groundless speculations” that law enforcement may have tailed reporters.

HKJA said on Monday that it condemned reported cases of stalking and harassment of journalists from local news outlet InMedia, calling on authorities to step up investigations.

“The HKJA points out that the purpose of stalking journalists is never limited to the individuals involved,” it said in a Chinese-language statement.

“The psychological pressure created makes every journalist present realise they could be under surveillance at any time, thereby invisibly restricting press freedom. This ‘chilling effect’ is the greatest harm caused by such stalking and harassment.”

The press union’s statement was issued nearly a week after the Security Bureau responded to its letter seeking “clarification” on the incidents.

On April 5, the HKJA asked the bureau to state explicitly whether “Hong Kong’s law enforcement agencies had ever conducted any surveillance or tailing operations against InMedia journalists or any other media workers, either by law enforcement personnel or outsourced to third parties.”

The Security Bureau replied in a letter on April 7, saying it “strongly condemns [the HKJA’s] repeated insinuations that the aforementioned suspected stalking and harassment were perpetrated by law enforcement agencies.”

“Making groundless speculations without verification not only damages the reputation of all law enforcement officers but also undermines the professional image of journalists, who are expected to base their reporting and commentary on facts,” it said.

Regret over gov’t’s response

Local independent news site InMedia said on April 3 that its reporters had received harassing text messages “in recent months” and were suspected of being followed after work by unidentified individuals “in recent days.”

Unknown individuals allegedly tailed reporters after public hearings held by the Wang Fuk Court fire independent committee, according to the news outlet.

InMedia also said it had filed two police reports.

In the Monday statement, the HKJA expressed regret over the bureau’s response, as it “did not directly deny whether law enforcement agencies had launched investigations or tracking operations against the journalists in this case, nor did it promise to seriously follow up on InMedia’s police reports.”

The press union also mentioned that journalists from multiple media organisations, including HKFP, and their family members were stalked and harassed in 2023 and 2024.

“To date, no perpetrators have been brought to justice, and the authorities have not released any findings from their investigations,” it said.

The HKJA also urged the bureau to clearly state its opposition to all acts of stalking, intimidation, and harassment targeting journalists.

A Hong Kong independent media outlet has said its journalists have been targeted by harassing text messages and “stalked” by unknown individuals, the latest in a series of intimidations against the city’s press since 2024.

InMedia said in a blog post on Friday that its reporters had received harassing text messages “in recent months” and were suspected of being followed after work by unidentified individuals “in recent days.”

“Some unknown individuals were suspected to have trailed our reporters following the public hearings by the Wang Fuk Court [fire] independent committee,” InMedia said in the Chinese-language blog post.

The public hearings into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire began on March 19, with eight sessions held before the long weekend began on Friday. The hearings resumed on Wednesday.

InMedia said it filed two police reports regarding the suspected stalking and harassment without disclosing further details. The media outlet did not immediately respond to an HKFP request for comment.

2024 harassment against journalists

The incidents are the latest examples of a string of harassment campaigns targeting journalists in the city since September 2024, when at least 13 organisations, including media outlets and press organisations, were subject to various forms of intimidation.

At that time, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), a press union, described the situation as a “systematic and organised attack.” InMedia, the HKJA, and HKFP were among the 13 organisations that faced harassment, which included online doxxing and defamatory letters sent to home addresses, workplaces and family members.

Selina Cheng, the HKJA chairperson, said at that time that it had filed a police report and two journalists had made criminal doxxing complaints to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog.

Police said in October 2024 that they were investigating the HKJA’s harassment reports.

Last month, they told HKFP’s chief editor that no arrests had been made in connection with the 2024 harassment case that affected the company.

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing 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.

See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

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.