HONG KONG, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Dozens of Hong Kong

journalists and their families have been harassed and

intimidated online and in person over the last three months

starting from June, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA)

said on Friday.

HKJA chairperson Selina Cheng said the threats and sharing

of false and defamatory content damage press freedom in Hong

Kong and should not be tolerated.

"I think this is the largest scale harassment against

reporters in Hong Kong that we have thus far known of," Cheng

said. "We are making a loud call today to say that we do not

accept such behaviour."

Under Secretary for Security Michael Cheuk told the media on

Friday: "Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law, and

no one should be intimidated, insulted, or so-called harassed".

He urged anyone who felt such pressure to report it to law

enforcement agencies.

The targeted journalists, media companies and organizations

include HKJA's executive committee and 13 media outlets

including Hong Kong Free Press, Inmediahk, HK Feature, and two

journalism education institutions, she said.

At least 15 journalists, their families and associates -

including landlords, charities, schools and private businesses -

have received anonymous complaints by email or letter from

self-proclaimed "patriots", the HKJA said.

The alleged intimidation comes amid a years-long national

security clampdown by authorities that followed mass

pro-democracy protests in 2019. Critics say this erodes the

agreement on Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China in 1997,

which guaranteed a measure of autonomy for the city.

The HKJA said some journalists or their associates had been

targeted in private Facebook groups. In at least four cases,

trolls used Facebook and Wikipedia to make violent threats,

including death threats, Cheng said.

A spokesperson for Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit

organization that operates Wikipedia, said in a reply to Reuters

that it had issued a global ban on a user for violating its

terms of use and that the volunteer editors who oversee content

on Wikipedia removed the harmful content.

Hong Kong police said they would handle each reported

case in accordance with the law.

Meta, owner of Facebook, did not respond to Reuters

requests for comment.

Two editors were recently convicted of sedition, the first

for sedition against any journalist or editor since 1997.

HKJA said it had identified an abusive user and reported its

findings to the police and the Office Of The Privacy

Commissioner For Personal Data (PCPD). The PCPD said it had

received one complaint which it was dealing with.

Tom Grundy, director of Hong Kong Free Press, told Reuters

his landlord and local property agencies were sent anonymous

letters making "wild claims and threatening 'unimaginable

consequences' and 'collateral damage'" unless he was evicted.

Inmedia told Reuters one of its employees had received

harassment messages. HK Feature said it was "shocked by the

varying degrees of harassment of our journalists and their

relatives".

"We hope the public will take journalism work seriously and

support our work, so that reporting can be free from fear," it

said.