''Stand News'' ( zh, t=立場新聞) was a free

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

online news website based in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2021. Founded in December 2014, it was the successor of '' House News''. It primarily focused on social and

political issues Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

in Hong Kong, and generally took a pro-democracy editorial position. ''Stand News'' was ranked highest in credibility among online news media in Hong Kong in two public opinion surveys conducted by the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

in 2016 and 2019. On 29 December 2021, amid the backdrop of increasing government suppression of news media following the 2020 enactment of the Hong Kong national security law, ''Stand News'' was raided by the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

, who arrested senior staff and froze the company's assets. As a result, similar to ''

Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, t=蘋果日報, j=ping4 gwo2 jat6 bou3) was a Chinese-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai and part of Next Media, ''Apple Daily'' was known for its sensational headlines, ...

'' earlier the same year, ''Stand News'' was forced to dismiss its staff and cease operations.

Background

''Stand News'' was founded after the closure of House News in July 2014. Instead of running the website as a limited company like ''House News'', the owner company of the website, Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited, is legally managed by a

trust company A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary, trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm, and which specializes in being a trust ...

, while prohibiting any transfer of shares. Following the forced closure of ''

'' on 24 June 2021, the organisation announced precautionary measures, citing "security concerns". While it vowed to continue publishing, it said that it would pre-emptively take off line all non-news items, such as commentaries and op-eds. Stating that giving their current finances would allow operations to continue for 9 to 12 months, they would cease to accept sponsorships or subscriptions to prevent money "going to waste". Six of the board's eight members resigned." The organisation also participated in the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...

leaks in October 2021.

Incidents

Legal dispute with former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying

On 24 August 2018, former

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying ( zh, t=梁振英; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Confe ...

filed for defamation against university professor Chung Kim-wah and ''Stand News'' in the High Court, alleging that an article in the website falsely associated Leung with the triads. The article had reported a dinner between Leung's aides and alleged triad members. Chung Kim-wah refused to retract the article, while ''Stand News'' chief editor Chung Pui-kuen stated that he did not believe that the article defamed Leung, and extended Leung the right to reply.

Incidents during the 2019 Hong Kong protests

During the Yuen Long attack on 21 July 2019, ''Stand News'' reporter Gwyneth Ho was attacked by triad members while live-streaming the attack. When the assailants were attacking commuters in the train station, some of them turned on Ho, who was knocked over and hit by sticks and wooden batons while she continued filming. Ho was taken to the hospital, where she received treatment for her injuries and was given stitches. On 20 December 2019, while he was reporting a shooting incident at Jade Plaza in

Tai Po Tai Po is an List of areas of Hong Kong, area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Mark ...

, a ''Stand News'' reporter's hands and mobile phone were clubbed repeatedly by a policeman; other reporters were pepper sprayed. The Hong Kong Journalists Association condemned the attack and intentional provocation by the Hong Kong Police. Senior journalist Yau Ching-Yuen alleged that the police might have known that the victim was working for the ''Stand News'' and thus intentionally targeted the reporter. On 24 December 2019, a reporter of ''Stand News'' was attacked by the police using

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

. The reporter, armed with recording equipment, was covering a conflict between the police and civilians in Mong Kok at the time.

Government suppression and closure

The Stand News reporter arrested by HK police in home 20211229

In 2021, a number of large, independent news publishers shut down in the wake of new national security laws. Stand News and ''

'' in June and the prosecution of staff there. As a result, ''Stand News'' wrote that "speech crimes" had arrived in Hong Kong, and removed commentary pieces from its website. It also stopped accepting monthly donations from readers so as to avoid wasting donors' funds in the event that ''Stand News'' was suppressed in a similar manner as ''Apple Daily''. ''Stand News'' was targeted later that year. On 3 December 2021, Secretary for Security Chris Tang accused the outlet of bias, and of smearing Hong Kong's "smart prison" initiative. On the morning of 29 December, ''Stand News'' was raided by over 200 officers of the Hong Kong Police Force. Three men and three women were arrested and accused of conspiring to publish seditious material. Ronson Chan, a ''Stand News'' editor and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was also held for questioning by national security officers, and his home was raided; two former board members – former legislator Margaret Ng and pop icon Denise Ho were among those arrested. Later the same day, ''Stand News'' announced on social media that it would cease publication and dismiss its employees as the company's assets were frozen by the police. Its website was promptly replaced by a short farewell letter. The company's Facebook and Twitter pages were deleted, and all content on its YouTube account was removed. The ''Stand News''s UK bureau announced it would also shut down, with bureau chief Yeung Tin-shui resigning. By the end of its life, their Facebook fans page had more than 1.7 million likes. Former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were found guilty of sedition on 29 August 2024. The judgement said that, of the 17 Stand News articles considered by the court, 11 were found to be seditious. This was the first sedition conviction of journalists in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.

Editors-in-Chief

# Chung Pui-kuen # Yu Ka-fai # Patrick Lam; interim

Awards

* Breaking News Writing, Human Rights Press Awards (2020, winner) * Explanatory Feature Writing, Human Rights Press Awards (2020, winner) * Short Video, Human Rights Press Awards (2020, winner) * Investigative Feature Writing, Human Rights Press Awards (2020, merit award) * Press Freedom Prize,

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

(nominated, 2021)

References

External links

* * (in Chinese)
Hong Kong court finds two former "Stand News" editors guilty of sedition
HK01 Features (in Chinese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stand News 2014 establishments in Hong Kong 2021 disestablishments in Hong Kong Censorship in Hong Kong Crowdfunded journalism Defunct websites Hong Kong news websites Publications established in 2014 Publications disestablished in 2021 Defunct newspapers published in Hong Kong