Hong Kong drops to 83rd place in free press ranking
Increased violence against journalists and cyberattacks on news websites have led to a further decline in Hong Kong's press freedom, says a US report.
Increased violence against journalists and cyberattacks on news websites have led to a further decline in Hong Kong's press freedom, says a US report.
The study by Freedom House, a social concern group, ranked the city 83rd in press freedom, down from last year's 74th place and 71st position in 2013.
The city's ranking was among countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Central Africa, that recorded a significant decline from last year. The survey covered 199 countries and territories, ranking each as either "free", "partly free" or "not free".
Hong Kong has maintained its status since 2009 as "partly free", but mainland China, which ranked 186th, was rated "not free". Taiwan was ranked at 48th place and rated "free".
The watchdog said Beijing's enormous economic power and influence had allowed it to exert "considerable indirect pressure" on the city's media that has led to growing self-censorship.
It said the environment for media freedom had declined further in 2014 as "physical attacks against journalists increased, massive cyberattacks crippled widely read news sites at politically significant moments, and businesses withdrew advertising from outlets that were critical of Beijing and supportive of pro-democracy protesters".
It cited the attack on former chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to in February last year, the attacks on journalists during the 79-day Occupy protests, and the website of which was hit by "major cyberattacks throughout 2014".
Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said the drop in the city's ranking was expected as an association poll of journalists and members of the public showed a similar result last month.
Norway and Sweden continued to be jointly ranked first. The US and Britain were ranked 31st and 38th, respectively, while North Korea (199), Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (both 197) were among the worst.
