A group of outraged journalists on Thursday threatened to launch a judicial review of the city police’s decision to limit journalistic activity during on-site news coverage.

The disciplinary force created fresh controversy this week by restricting the reporting of its events to only “internationally recognised” media outlets and local news organisations registered with the government’s Information Services Department.

Other journalists may, from this Wednesday, be barred from reporting at certain public areas over which police have declared control, such as a protest site or crime scene, according to the new rules.

Although Hong Kong does not officially require journalists to be accredited to carry out reportage, the changes allow police officers to pick them up easily on the spot. The decision has been branded as turning Hong Kong into a police state and further eroding freedom of the press.

The hardest-hit journalists may be members of the city’s largest journalist associations. Chris Yeung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said his group had worked collaboratively with the authorities for years, but the latest policy was a de facto licensing scheme for journalists and treated them as “enemies.” He confirmed his group was seeking legal advice on whether such changes could be challenged in court via a judicial review.

Yeung’s counterpart at the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, Chan Yik-chiu, told a press conference jointly held with the HKJA and other industry representatives that individual freelancers, online media reporters and student journalists could easily be banned by the police with the new rule.

Government officials had claimed that during the violent protests last year, “fake journalists and rioters in disguise” hindered police operations when protesters seized the city streets. It was purely an excuse used by the authorities to crack down on press freedoms, Hui Fong-man of the Ming Pao Staff Association said. She feared that more restrictions might be applied and power easily abused if journalists did not fight back.

Residents of the former British colony have been concerned about their civic liberties being eroded by recently imposed national security laws that target certain sectors, including education and the media. The HKJA would send observers to monitor the implementation of the new police rules to determine whether the rights of journalists were respected, vice chairperson Ronson Chan said.

A journalism lecturer also called upon senior police management to visit protest sites to understand how the rules were put into practice. “I hope they won’t be arrested and charged with rioting and illegal assembly,” Bruce Lui of Hong Kong Baptist University said.

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