HONG KONG: China’s national security agency in Hong Kong summoned international media representatives for a “regulatory talk” on Saturday, saying some had spread false information and smeared the government in recent reports on a deadly fire and upcoming legislative elections.
Senior journalists from several major outlets operating in the city, including AFP, were summoned to the meeting by the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was opened in 2020 following Beijing’s imposition of a wide-ranging national security law on the city.
Through the OSNS, Beijing’s security agents operate openly in Hong Kong, with powers to investigate and prosecute national security crimes.
“Recently, some foreign media reports on Hong Kong have disregarded facts, spread false information, distorted and smeared the government’s disaster relief and aftermath work, attacked and interfered with the Legislative Council election, (and) provoked social division and confrontation,” an OSNS statement posted online shortly after the meeting said.
At the meeting, an official who did not give his name read out a similar statement to media representatives.
He did not give specific examples of coverage that the OSNS had taken issue with, and did not take questions.
The online OSNS statement urged journalists to “not cross the legal red line.”
“The Office will not tolerate the actions of all anti-China and trouble-making elements in Hong Kong, and ‘don’t say we didn’t warn you’,” it read.
For the past week and a half, news coverage in Hong Kong has been dominated by a deadly blaze on a residential estate which killed at least 159 people.
Authorities have warned against crimes that “exploit the tragedy” and have reportedly arrested at least three people for sedition in the fire’s aftermath.
Dissent in Hong Kong has been all but quashed since Beijing brought in the national security law, after huge and sometimes violent protests in 2019.
Hong Kong’s electoral system was revamped in 2021 to ensure that only “patriots” could hold office, and the upcoming poll on Sunday will select a second batch of lawmakers under those rules.
China’s national security agency in Hong Kong summons international media representatives
https://arab.news/zfeza
China’s national security agency in Hong Kong summons international media representatives
Riyadh panel unpacks media influence in digital era
- Arab News-led discussion at SMF examines the realities behind media power and sustainability
RIYADH: “We don’t shape narratives, they shape us,” Vincent Peyregne, former CEO of World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, told a panel at the Saudi Media Forum in Riyadh on Monday.
Moderated by Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal Al-Abbas, the session titled “How do alliances shape global public opinion?” explored how media organizations navigate public opinion, commercial pressures, and the shift away from traditional revenue models. It challenged the notion that media outlets can control audience perception.
“In some part, we document the public opinion,” Peyregne added. “But I don’t see any reasonable publishers in our network saying, ‘I’m shaping the public opinion.’”
Al-Abbas described the idea of media shaping public opinion as an illusion when responding to questions about a “secret formula of success,” saying: “The perception that anybody can dominate public opinion is an illusion,” he said.
The session explored the evolving global media landscape, comparing traditional publishers with newer digital players and examining how alliances and platforms influence reach and sustainability.
A key theme was the decline of state support for private media. Peyregne argued that the era of subsidies is effectively over, stressing that editorial independence depends on financial self-sufficiency.
Ben Smith, cofounder and editor in chief of Semafor, echoed this view by noting that many traditional publishers mistakenly wait for the government to “give back” their audience or revenue.
Smith, who brings a different perspective to the session with a background at Politico and Buzzfeed, said, “There is a tendency among the traditional publishers to say, ‘We know how the world is meant to be organized and the new players are taking an audience that is meant for us.’”
He argued that media must adapt to the digital ecosystem rather than seeking government-mandated compensation as a primary survival strategy.
Peyregne added that publishers are increasingly moving away from the “victim mentality” or “blame game” and instead are taking responsibility for their own survival rather than relying on regulators or blaming platforms like Google and Facebook.
He outlined a three-pillar revenue model for sustainable media companies, moving away from 80 percent ad reliance toward a balanced mix of advertising, paid content, direct audience relationships, and diversification through events, data, and digital agencies.
