Hong Kong protests: detention of student reporter at mall demonstration sparks debate on press accreditation

Several student-run online media platforms have sprung up since anti-government demonstrations began in June last year

Some protesters are disguising themselves as reporters, police say, while educators feel minors should avoid covering dangerous events

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Police detained a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl covering anti-government protests in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00am, 12 May 2020Updated: 12:50pm, 12 May 2020

The detention of a 12-year-old boy who identified himself as a student journalist at an anti-government protest on Sunday has put the spotlight on the emergence of child reporters and sparked a debate on launching a press accreditation system in Hong Kong.

Sporting a fluorescent vest that bore the word “PRESS” at Harbour City mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, the boy who volunteered for Student Depth Media, a student-run news organisation set up in February, was accused by an officer of taking part in “illegal child labour” and was taken to a nearby police station.

He was released in the evening without being charged. Police warned him that if he were spotted on similar occasions in the future, his mother would be prosecuted for not knowing how to protect him, the mother said later.

The boy belongs to one of several student-run online media platforms that sprang up during the anti-government movement which erupted in opposition to the now-withdrawn extradition bill in June last year. Many young journalists from online media platforms have since been spotted at protest front lines, reporting alongside journalists from traditional media outlets.

If you’re just 12 years old, can you react fast enough when it gets dangerous? I wouldn’t encourage students that young to cover these events

Wilson Li, City University student and freelance journalist

During Sunday’s police clearance action in Mong Kok, there were occasions when dozens of journalists were pointing their cameras at police. Police have accused some people of disguising themselves as reporters while actually staging demonstrations and hindering the force’s operations.

Though social media has been abuzz with words of encouragement for the boy for his passion to be a reporter at such a young age, some educators said minors should avoid covering protests because the events could turn dangerous at any moment.