๐Her comments came almost a week after authorities arrested seven people associated with pro-democracy online news outlet Stand News over sedition, with the outlet announcing that it would cease operations. Days later, another online site Citizen News also said it would stop operating.
๐ฌโFor none of the media outlets, we did not do anything. They were never approached by law enforcement agencies,โ Lam said during a news conference Tuesday.
๐โBut if they decided to cease operation out of their own concerns, I think this is nothing out of the ordinary."
๐She added that Hong Kong authorities do "not seek to crack down on press freedom.โ
๐ Lam said that the government follows the rule of law in Hong Kong, and that when she first assumed office, she had opened up government news conferences to online outlets and met with the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
๐โAs long as news outlets do not engage in illegal acts, they can continue to report news in Hong Kong," Lam added.
๐ฒShe said that there was an increase of 5.4% for local news outlets registered in the city, and a jump of 9.4% for overseas outlets since the National Security Law was enacted in the city in June 2020.
๊ฆฆโSo you cannot say that the freedom of press is eroded due to the closing of the two media outlets,โ Lam said.
๐ฅSince the security law came into effect, over a hundred people have been arrested, including many pro-democracy activists as well as some journalists who previously worked for the now-defunct Apple Daily and Stand News.
๐ฎSeparately, Lam said Tuesday that the city would be tightening vaccine requirements to cover not only entertainment venues, but also places like libraries, schools and museums.
๐The mandate would be tightened from Feb. 24, and would require those entering such venues to have at least one vaccine dose against COVID-19.
๐ฒThe expansion of the vaccine mandate comes days after Hong Kong reported its first omicron COVID-19 cluster, linked to several Cathay Pacific crew members who had broken isolation rules and visited dining spots and bars across the city before later testing positive for omicron.
๐งธThe city had previously largely kept the delta variant from causing local outbreaks through strict quarantine rules. Hong Kong currently designates all countries with local omicron outbreaks as โhigh-riskโ countries, requiring arrivals from those countries to serve a 21-day quarantine.
-With PTI inputs
