Hong Kong: independent journalists targeted with arbitrary audits
The NUJ has joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in calling on Hong Kong authorities to uphold journalists’ right to report without fear of reprisals.
Since November 2023, 20 journalists and seven independent media organisations have been arbitrarily audited by Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) in an attempt to subdue media scrutiny.
These organisations include Boomhead, the Hong Kong Free Press, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). According to the HKJA, IRD’s investigations were characterised by insufficient evidence and unreasonable demands, such as auditing one organisation for profits prior to its foundation.
The personal taxes of journalists’ family members have also been investigated. In one case, HKJA Chair Selina Cheng and her parents were hit with a bill of over USD 120,000. Another journalist had their income assessed at double the rate of their actual earnings.
Though the IRD states that “the industry or background of a taxpayer has no bearing on such reviews,” only 0.001 per cent of registered companies in Hong Kong were audited in 2023-24, meaning independent media outlets have been disproportionately targeted.
The audits come in a context of crackdowns against press freedom, trade unions, and wider civil society. The 2020 National Security Law criminalised acts of “separatism, subversion of state power, terrorism and interference.” The number of independent journalists has fallen in recent years, while the Trade Union (Amendment) Bill, introduced by Hong Kong authorities in April, increases powers to ban union activity as well as affiliation with foreign “forces”.
The IFJ said:
“The arbitrary auditing of media organisations and individual journalists is consistent with the persistent silencing of independent media in Hong Kong through blatant legal and financial harassment. IFJ stands firmly in solidarity with the city’s embattled media community and urges the authorities to ensure constitutional commitments to press freedom are upheld and all media workers can operate without fear of reprisal.”