Navigating journalism under Hong Kong National Security Law-Five years on

Lai, the media tycoon of the now-defunct Hong Kong new media outlet Apple Daily is accused with conspiracy to publish seditious materials and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, following the implementation of the 2020 National Security Law.

The Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) was passed by Beijing and added into the Hong Kong Basic Law, taking effect on Jun.30, 2020. Key offences include secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces.

Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 161 persons, including journalists involved convicted NSL, according to government figures.

A 2025 survey by The Foreign Correspondent Club, Hong Kong (FCCHK) reported that 57 out of 69 journalists who answered the survey says that they have self-censored in the past 18 months, a rise compared to 2021. More than half (57.9%) of them expressed concerns over arrest or prosecution on their publishing or editing works.

“There are sensitive words or phrases we will avoid to use, one particular example is the phrase ‘Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times’, as it is defined as seditive by the court already,” Hung Kam Fat, an editor from Ming Pao, a local news media says.

Aside legal advice on risky case, Hung says that the judge’s ruling like the Jimmy Lai’s case gives cues on what may cross the line but would remain cautious as interpretations can evolve.

Reporters reviewed higher self-censorship, though they have gained clearer understanding of the limits imposed by the NSL through related case legal cases through these 5 years.

Around four-fifth (78.26%) of journalists from the survey says that they have a clear sense of what subjects are sensitive, compared to 52% in 2021, according to the same survey from FCCHK.

“Legal advice will be acquired in case of risky case, and ‘if in doubt, leave it out’ may be the final outcome, “he says.