500名警察於6月17日星期四突擊搜查《蘋果日報》大樓，拘捕5名高層，包括總編輯和董事。電腦和文件被帶走，包括一些新聞材料。
英國外交大臣藍韜文（Dominic Raab）說：「今天在香港《蘋果日報》的突襲和逮捕表明，北京正在利用國家安全法來打擊反對聲音並對媒體滅聲。」
「國家安全法被用來扼殺香港的媒體自由和言論自由。」歐盟發言人說。
國際特赦組織亞太區主任Yamini Mishra 表示：「香港當局最近對其最猛烈的媒體批評者之一進行了無恥的攻擊，他們正在加大對新聞自由的打壓力度，並以『國家安全』為藉口。 」
8個傳媒工會及組織發表聯合聲明，對國安處拘捕《蘋果日報》管理層及搜查報館感到震驚和不安，指事件令傳媒及公眾擔心，《港區國安法》被「武器化」，有恃無恐針對報道及文章，對媒體管理層和新聞工作者作出拘捕，對新聞自由構成嚴重威脅。
聯署的包括香港記者協會、香港攝影記者協會、獨立評論人協會、壹傳媒工會及大專新聞教育工作者聯席等。
500 police officers descended on the headquarters of prominent Hong Kong media Apple Daily and arrested 5 senior Editors and directors on Thursday, June 17. Computers and documents, including some containing journalistic materials, were taken away.
“Today’s raids and arrests at Apple Daily in Hong Kong demonstrate Beijing is using the National Security Law to target dissenting voices and silence media,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
“National security law is being used to stifle media freedom and freedom of expression in Hong Kong,” said an European Union spokesperson.
Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director said: “With this latest brazen attack on one of its fiercest media critics, the Hong Kong authorities are ramping up their crackdown on press freedom and using the pretext of ‘national security’ to justify it.”
8 Hong Kong press unions and associations issued a joint statement, expressing shock and dismay by the National Security Department’s arrest of the Apple Daily management and the search of the newspaper headquarters. The media and the public worry that the National Security Law was “weaponized” to target news reports and arrest media management and journalists, posing a serious threat to press freedom.
The co-signatories include the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, Independent Commentators Association, the Union of Next Media, and Journalism Educators for Press Freedom.
