Hong Kong’s Citizen News to close amid fears for staff’s safety

"Regrettably, the fast changes in society and the deteriorating media environment prevent us from achieving our aim courageously. Amid this catastrophe, we must first ensure that everyone on the boat is safe," Citizen News, which was founded in 2017, announced the news in a statement.

Citizen News, a Hong Kong-based independent online news site, said on Sunday that it would halt operations on Tuesday due to what it characterised as a deteriorating media climate in the Chinese-ruled city and to preserve the safety of its employees. When Hong Kong was returned to Chinese control in 1997, it was with the assurance that broad individual rights, including freedom of the press, would be safeguarded. However, pro-democracy activists and rights groups claim that liberties have diminished, particularly after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020. Hong Kong officials deny these allegations, and the city's leadership denies targeting the media.

"Regrettably, the fast changes in society and the deteriorating media environment prevent us from achieving our aim courageously. Amid this catastrophe, we must first ensure that everyone on the boat is safe," Citizen News, which was founded in 2017, announced the news in a statement.

Citizen News' Facebook page states that it has no political connection and wants to promote Hong Kong's essential values of freedom, openness, variety, and inclusiveness. The news comes just days after two former top editors of Hong Kong's Stand News were convicted of conspiracy to print seditious materials and denied bail following a 200-person raid on the online outlet's facilities.

Citizen News was the largest remaining independent news organisation in Hong Kong after the closures of Apple Daily in June and Stand News last Wednesday. Citizen News was created in 2017 by a group of senior Hong Kong journalists and is funded through crowdsourcing. Stand News was closed down when national security officers stormed its office, detained seven persons involved with the newspaper, and froze around 61 million Hong Kong dollars ($7.8 million) in business assets. According to police, the arrests are related to a series of "seditious" articles published between July 2020 and November 2021.