SLIDE FROM 18th TO 140th

Hong Kong’s slide from a global symbol of press openness to one of the most constrained media environments in the world is not a matter of rankings alone.

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It is a lesson in how freedom erodes when power decides that scrutiny is an inconvenience rather than a necessity.Two decades ago, the city ranked among the freest places for journalists anywhere. Today, it sits near the bottom of international indices. That fall did not happen because reporters suddenly lost professionalism or audiences lost interest. It happened because the rules governing speech were fundamentally altered, and once those rules changed, behaviour followed. For Indian readers, this is not an abstract foreign-policy story. It is a reminder that press freedom is not self-sustaining; it survives only as long as those in authority tolerate discomfort.