Hong Kong’s public broadcaster has come under fire for shelving a television documentary on university student leaders, raising more questions about self-censorship under the station’s new management.

Radio Television Hong Kong said on Monday that it pulled an episode of award-winning documentary series “Hong Kong Connection” scheduled to air later that day. The show explored the issue of student activism in universities and how it had been affected by Hong Kong’s political climate.

RTHK also announced that it had pulled an episode of “Hong Kong Stories” scheduled to air on March 7 and an episode of “LegCo Review” due to air on March 11. The station’s new head, Patrick Li, has drawn criticism for shelving a number of planned programs since he took over on March 1, following the sudden resignation of his predecessor in the wake of a critical government review that claimed bias and poor editorial controls at the broadcaster.

In a statement, the broadcaster said the latest episodes to be pulled had failed to meet editorial standards and included “inaccurate descriptions” of Hong Kong’s national security law and Beijing’s overhaul of the city’s electoral system.

“The episodes tackled controversial topics, but were unable to be fair, impartial and accurate,” the statement read, adding that the decisions were taken by an editorial panel comprising RTHK’s management and Li, who is director of broadcasting.

The panel was set up earlier this month to “strengthen editorial management” at RTHK, though critics said it was an attempt to muzzle journalists. Li, a career bureaucrat, also faced skepticism about his ability to make editorial decisions as he had never worked as a journalist.

The panel failed to adequately explain its verdict on the pulled shows, which appears to have been made arbitrarily and through an opaque process, the Radio Television Hong Kong Programme Producers Union said in a statement. The union called on RTHK management to “cherish this platform for reporting the good and the bad.”

An RTHK employee told Apple Daily that Li abruptly pulled the “Hong Kong Connection” episode on student politics on Monday morning. Li had previously read the proposal for the episode, he added.

Issac Lam, a former student leader at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that decision to shelve the documentary was “shocking and regrettable.”

“Is it that [RTHK management] can’t even tolerate a factual record? Is one video enough to shake the foundations?” Lam said. He added that he was cautious with answers he gave in the documentary, and did not believe he said anything that would be considered politically unacceptable.

Aside from interviewing former student leaders, the episode also included interviews with two pro-Beijing lawmakers, Eunice Yung and Lau Kwok-fan.

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