Macao media outlet announces closure amid growing legal pressure and risks

New York, October 31, 2025—Authorities in the Chinese special administrative region of Macao must stop harassing news outlet All About Macau and restore its registration, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday, following the publication’s announcement it would close operations in December amid mounting pressure and risks.

“The closure of All About Macau is a blow to press freedom and severely undermines the public’s right to independent information. It’s indicative of the rapidly deteriorating media environment in Macao,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi. “Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai and his administration must immediately stop harassing the publication, restore its registration, and drop any pending charges against All About Macau reporters.”

In a statement released Thursday, the independent news outlet said it would cease publishing its print magazine this month and stop posting to digital platforms on December 20, 2025.

All About Macau said the Government Information Bureau of Macao had informed it earlier in October that it no longer met legal requirements needed to operate under the city’s press law, and the official registration required to print had been cancelled.

Macao, or Macau, is a former Portuguese colony, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1999 under a “One Country, Two Systems” framework that promised a high degree of autonomy and wider civil liberties than the Chinese mainland. But press and political freedoms in the gambling hub have been curtailed in recent years.

All About Macau, which is known for its critical and in-depth reporting on political and social issues, said it had faced mounting constraints over the past year, including repeated restrictions on attending official events and criminal accusations against three of its reporters.

On April 15, 2025, three All About Macau reporters were barred from entering the Legislative Assembly chamber to cover the chief executive’s policy address. Two days later, All About Macau’s editor-in-chief Ian Sio Tou and another reporter were denied entry to the chamber again and subsequently detained by police for 11 hours. Police said they would refer the case to the Public Prosecutions Office and the journalists face charges carrying up to three years in prison.

CPJ emailed request for comment to the Government Information Bureau did not receive a response.