Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says work of journalists cannot take precedence over curbs in place to restore order
- Police changes for the media are objective response to chaos of last year’s anti-government protests, Lam says
- New rule limits access to certain areas to journalists registered with the government, internationally recognised media
The work of journalists cannot override the restrictions put in place by the authorities to help restore order, Hong Kong’s leader has said.
Addressing the media at her weekly briefing, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday again backed the city’s police force over its changes to guidelines for defining journalists.
Starting from last Wednesday, officers have limited access to restricted areas and press briefings to reporters and photographers registered with the government or internationally recognised media, a move Lam called appropriate and objective.
Police said earlier they had trouble recognising who was a genuine reporter, accusing some protesters in the past of posing as journalists.
“I hope that during their process of gathering news, [members of the press] can understand that we also have restrictions, especially when it was not during a calm environment but a chaotic scene, where law enforcement is being carried out,” she said.
Referring to last year’s civil unrest, Lam said there was a pressing need to know the identity of journalists in such situations.