Press Freedoms Declining in Hong Kong

Press freedom further declined in Hong Kong in 2015, driven by growing self-censorship and government interference as Beijing expands its influence over the city's boisterous media, a new report said Saturday.

The southern Chinese city prides itself on having relative freedom of expression compared with severely restricted reporting in mainland China, a legacy of Britain's handover of power in 1997.

"Press freedom in China, Hong Kong and Macau deteriorated further in 2015, as the Communist Party of China used every means at its disposal to control the media," the International Federation of Journalists' China Press Freedom Report said.

The report comes at a time when the fate of five booksellers, feared to have been detained in mainland China after disappearing late last year have put residents on edge with concerns the semi-autonomous city's freedoms are being eroded.

The five are from Hong Kong's Mighty Current publishing house, known for salacious titles critical of Beijing leaders.

"There has been strong outcry from the Hong Kong people, with many concerned about their personal safety and freedom of speech," the report said of sentiment after the disappearances.

The report also predicted China's ruling Communist Party will use resources to strengthen its influence in the city, which will hold elections for its legislature later in the year and for a new leader in 2017.

"As Hong Kong goes to elections next year the party is also using its considerable wealth to consolidate its influence over the region," it said.

Last year's report warned of "intervention behind the scenes" at a time when tensions remained high after more than two months of mass protests for fully free leadership elections in late 2014.

Ken Tsang, a pro-democracy activist who was allegedly beaten by police during the protests in an attack captured by television cameras and beamed around the world said the situation in Hong Kong was "terrible".

"Maybe we can say we have lots of freedoms but somebody is threating you at your back, I think all Hong Kong citizens can feel that," Tsang told AFP after a court hearing on Thursday.

"The situation is not that good, we are terrified," he said.

A British colony until 1997, Hong Kong is ruled under a "one country, two systems" deal that allows it far greater civil liberties than those enjoyed on the Chinese mainland, including freedom of speech and the right to protest.

The report, presented at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club, also called the outlook in 2016 for the rest of mainland China "even worse".

Chinese authorities have detained and harassed reporters, used forced television confessions and other methods in limiting and influencing reporting, the report said.

Regulation laws 'substantial threat to British press freedom'

Laws aimed at regulating the newspaper industry will pose "the most substantial threat to British press freedom in the modern era", campaigners have warned.

A report by freedom of speech experts claims recommendations made following the Leveson inquiry into practices and ethics within the industry will have a serious and long-term impact on the media and democracy.

The document, Leveson's Illiberal Legacy, says a state-backed regulator underpinned by a Royal Charter would pose "imminent danger" to local newspapers, and would have made it "impossible" for the MPs' expenses scandal to have surfaced.

It calls on the Government to repeal sections of the Crime and Courts Act and to annul the Royal Charter.

The report, backed by the Free Speech Network and advised by some of the key freedom of expression campaigners behind the Libel Reform Campaign, claims it is a "myth that Leveson protects human rights".

Professor Tim Luckhurst, who wrote the report's foreword, said: "The impact of state-sanctioned regulation on our precious local newspapers would be uniquely harsh and spectacularly unjust.

"They serve their communities brilliantly. Surely they deserve our protection: their demise would impoverish local communities and cripple local democracy."

Report author Helen Anthony said: "From November, newspapers not signed up to a state recognised regulator could be hit with exemplary damages in libel and privacy proceedings.

"Shortly afterwards, punitive costs awards could be made against newspapers sued for similar proceedings, even if they have broken no laws. This is deeply unfair and prevents free speech. This is bad law, and it was made in a rushed, undemocratic manner."

Responding to the report, Dr Evan Harris of the Hacked Off campaign group in favour of media regulation, said: "Its desperate rhetoric - comparing the Leveson system to that of repressive regimes - and claiming that an independent self-regulator amounts to the end of press freedom - betrays a recognition by the press executives behind the report that the public will never accept the rejection of the Leveson Inquiry, and calls instead for politicians 'to come to heel' and reject the Leveson Report, repeal the incentives and annul the Royal Charter.

"The document fails to provide any proper evidence that acceptance of the Leveson system by the press would have any impact on public interest journalism (like the MPs expenses story), and avoids mentioning that all these publishers have already signed up to a system in Ireland which has similar ingredients to Leveson but which lacks the political independence that Leveson and Royal Charter enshrine."

The 10 Most Censored Countries

The 2015 list of 10 Most Censored Countries is part of CPJ's annual publication, Attacks on the Press.

Repressive nations threaten jail terms, restrict Internet to silence press

Eritrea and North Korea are the first and second most censored countries worldwide, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists of the 10 countries where the press is most restricted. The list is based on research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to harassment of journalists and restrictions on Internet access.

In Eritrea, President Isaias Afewerki has succeeded in his campaign to crush independent journalism, creating a media climate so oppressive that even reporters for state-run news outlets live in constant fear of arrest. The threat of imprisonment has led many journalists to choose exile rather than risk arrest. Eritrea is Africa's worst jailer of journalists, with at least 23 behind bars-none of whom has been tried in court or even charged with a crime.

Fearing the spread of Arab Spring uprisings, Eritrea scrapped plans in 2011 to provide mobile Internet for its citizens, limiting the possibility of access to independent information. Although Internet is available, it is through slow dial-up connections, and fewer than 1 percent of the population goes online, according to U.N. International Telecommunication Union figures. Eritrea also has the lowest figure globally of cell phone users, with just 5.6 percent of the population owning one.

In North Korea, 9.7 percent of the population has cell phones, a number that excludes access to phones smuggled in from China. In place of the global Internet, to which only a select few powerful individuals have access, some schools and other institutions have access to a tightly controlled intranet. And despite the arrival of an Associated Press bureau in Pyongyang in 2012, the state has such a tight grip on the news agenda that newsreel was re-edited to remove Kim Jong Un's disgraced uncle from the archives after his execution.

The tactics used by Eritrea and North Korea are mirrored to varying degrees in other heavily censored countries. To keep their grip on power, repressive regimes use a combination of media monopoly, harassment, spying, threats of journalist imprisonment, and restriction of journalists' entry into or movements within their countries.

Imprisonment is the most effective form of intimidation and harassment used against journalists.

Seven of the 10 most censored countries-Eritrea, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Iran, China, and Myanmar-are also among the top 10 worst jailers of journalists worldwide, according to CPJ's annual prison census.

More than half of the journalists imprisoned globally are charged with anti-state crimes, including in China, the world's worst jailer and the eighth most censored country. Of the 44 journalists imprisoned-the largest figure for China since CPJ began its annual census in 1990-29 were held on anti-state charges. Other countries that use the charge to crush critical voices include Saudi Arabia (third most censored), where the ruling monarchy, not satisfied with silencing domestic dissent, teamed up with other governments in the Gulf Cooperation Council to ensure that criticism of leadership in any member state is dealt with severely.

In Ethiopia--number four on CPJ's most censored list--the threat of imprisonment has contributed to a steep increase in the number of journalist exiles. Amid a broad crackdown on bloggers and independent publications in 2014, more than 30 journalists were forced to flee, CPJ research shows. Ethiopia's 2009 anti-terrorism law, which criminalizes any reporting that authorities deem to "encourage" or "provide moral support" to banned groups, has been levied against many of the 17 journalists in jail there. Vietnam (sixth most censored) uses a vague law against "abusing democratic freedom" to jail bloggers, and Myanmar (ninth most censored) relies on its 1923 Official Secrets Act to prevent critical reporting on its military.

Internet access is highly restricted in countries under Communist Party rule-North Korea, Vietnam, China, and Cuba.

In Cuba (10th most censored), the Internet is available to only a small portion of the population, despite outside investment to bring the country online. China, despite having hundreds of millions of Internet users, maintains the "Great Firewall," a sophisticated blend of human censors and technological tools, to block critical websites and rein in social media.

In countries with advanced technology such as China, Internet restrictions are combined with the threat of imprisonment to ensure that critical voices cannot gain leverage online. Thirty-two of China's 44 jailed journalists worked online.

In Azerbaijan (fifth most censored), where there is little independent traditional media, criminal defamation laws have been extended to social media and carry a six-month prison sentence. Iran, the seventh most censored country, has one of the toughest Internet censorship regimes worldwide, with millions of websites blocked; it is also the second worst jailer of journalists, with 30 behind bars. Authorities there are suspected of setting up fake versions of popular sites and search engines as part of surveillance techniques.

Government harassment is a tactic used in at least five of the most censored countries, including Azerbaijan, where offices have been raided, advertisers threatened, and retaliatory charges such as drug possession levied against journalists. In Vietnam, many bloggers are put under surveillance in an attempt to prevent them from attending and reporting on news events. In Iran, journalists' relatives have been summoned by authorities and told that they could lose their jobs and pensions because of the journalists' work. And in Cuba, which has made some progress, including resuming diplomatic relations with the U.S. and proposing an end to Castro rule by 2018, the few independent journalists trying to report in the country are still subject to harassment and short-term detention.

Restricting journalists' movements and barring foreign correspondents is also a common tactic used by censoring governments. In Eritrea, the last remaining accredited international reporter was expelled in 2007, and the few outside reporters invited in occasionally to interview the president are closely monitored; in China, foreign correspondents have been subjected to arbitrary delays in visa applications.

Four heavily censored nations that nearly made the list are Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, all of which have little to no independent media and are so tightly closed that it can be difficult even to get information about conditions for journalists.

The list of most censored countries addresses only those where government tightly controls the media. In some countries, notably Syria, conditions are extremely dangerous and journalists have been abducted, held captive, and killed, some by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad but also by militant groups such as the Islamic State.

Hostile Environment Training Offered For Pakistan Journalists

To equip journalists with the skills required to cope with the dangers involved in reporting from hostile and sensitive areas, Rural Media Network Pakistan (RMNP)  has re-launched its training programme for media persons of South Punjab.

In collaboration with UNESCO, these trainings sessions are  focusing  upon print and radio journalists and will enable them to report on conflict constructively and in a manner which does not jeopardize their own well-being.

Through a variety of sessions, the journalists will be sensitised about local social issues and how those local voices need to be incorporated in the media. The second phase of three training sessions will be held in RahimyarKhan and Bahawalpur districts, while the first training workshop will start 21st February in Liaquatpur, district RahimyarKhan.

Earlier three training session were held at  Khanpur, Jatoi and Yaman sub-divisonal head quarters.

Highlighting the background of the training, President RMNP Ehsan Ahmed Khan Sehar said that reporting on conflict requires courage and dedication.

“We are making sure that those who choose such a daring job also have the assurance of their safety,” he said.

He said that these training sessions will endow the journalists working in religious- and feuda- dominated areas with necessary survival mechanisms to continue their work unhindered.

“This initiative will certainly improve the overall condition of media personnel in these areas and will assist them in adopting a set of precautionary measures that are necessary to survive in hostile environments,” he added.

Since January 2011, RMNP has organized nineteen training sessions in different districts of South Punjab, which were attended by more than 400 journalists. Sehar said that Pakistan has a long history of conflicts and presently hostile environments exist in some areas of South Punjab .

“Apart from the nature of the conflict, reporting of the ground realities becomes a daunting task, particularly when the parties of the conflict are altogether acting against the democratic forces including the media personnel/journalists working in these areas.”  said the RMNP President.

He further explained that a team of trainers and resource persons headed by former Research Coordinator, Tokyo University Japan’s Khalid Seed, will conduct a two day long training session in Liaquatpur. Participants will receive training manuals in the beginning of training workshop and a certificate giving ceremony will be held on 22nd February at 5 PM.