Hong Kong police will no longer recognize journalists carrying credentials from the city’s most acclaimed journalists' unions from Wednesday, instead changing the definition of “media representative” under its protocol.

The authorities notified four leading media associations in a letter that in order to “facilitate officers to perform their duties on the ground,” the police would only acknowledge media which had registered with the government and also “internationally recognized and renowned” foreign media organizations.

The police did not elaborate on what criteria an international news organization would have to meet to be regarded as “internationally recognized and renowned.”

It added that the revision had been made after people who had attacked police officers during social unrest were found to be disguised as journalists.

A media representative was previously defined as those holders of identification documents issued by their newspaper, news agency, television station and radio station, as well as those people who hold a valid membership card of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, regardless of the news organization they worked for.

The decision means that journalists accredited by the two associations will not be recognized, potentially creating a further rift in the already-deteriorating relationship between the police force and the city’s journalists.

More than 200 police officers raided Apple Daily’s headquarters in a high-profile operation on Aug. 10, after the paper’s founder Jimmy Lai was arrested under the national security law.

Eight journalists' unions, including the HKJA, responded in a letter that said the police decision had “unilaterally destroyed the long-standing relationship” with the industry and “seriously curtails press freedom and the media’s right of reporting.”

Pro-Beijing politicians, activists and police officers' associations have called on authorities to regulate the industry by establishing a licensing regime for journalists. Chief Executive Carrie Lam rejected the idea in October last year, saying the government had no intention to put forward a licensing mechanism.

HKJA chairman Chris Yeung said the new arrangement was “repentant” as it “severely undermines the mutual trust and cooperation between the police and the Association,” he said, adding that he had never received complaints about people pretending to be journalists during social events.

HKPPA chairman Chan Yik-chiu was concerned that freelancers would be most affected by the new policy because they were not employed by a particular news organization. He also slammed the police for not consulting the industry beforehand.

Online news outlet Cupid Producer is not included on the government registrar, and its editor-in-chief Yan Lau said the change was an attempt to stifle the survival of online media.

The government’s Information Services Department responded to the Apple Daily’s inquiry, saying it would first examine the readership or audience scale of foreign news organizations, before deciding if it was “internationally recognized and renowned.”

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