This week, after a 156-day trial, the Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and media tycoon Jimmy Lai was convicted of sedition and collusion with foreign or external forces. Now facing life in prison, Lai was convicted under the country’s National Security Law, introduced in 2020.

During the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, Lai and the media outlet he owned – Apple Daily – regularly presented the views of pro-democracy activists. It openly criticized the Hong Kong and Beijing governments, and encouraged readers to participate in pro-democracy rallies and protests.

Apple Daily and Lai came to symbolize the democratic ideal of a free press, able to criticize those in power without fear of censorship or sanction.

His conviction represents a major blow to those ideals.

In the years since the introduction of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, press freedom has slowly been limited. Lai’s conviction symbolizes it has now ended altogether.

In 2002, Hong Kong was ranked 18th globally for press freedom in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. It fell to 39th in 2005, and then to 73rd in 2019.

After the introduction of the national security law in 2020, a

© The Diplomat