Inmedia was founded by Oiwan Lam and
Ip Iam-chong [
zh] in late 2004, during a wave of emerging
pro-democratic online news platforms and podcasts following the 2003 protests.[1]Eddie Chu and
Chow Sze Chung [
zh] were among the first batch of journalists recruited by Inmedia.[2][3] Embracing the ideology of
citizen journalism, Inmedia primarily covers political news and adopts an opposing perspective to government-funded newspapers and online media.[1] Its expenses are sustained through readers' subscriptions and public donations.[1] Inmedia gained public recognition for its extensive coverage of the Korean peasants' protests against the
World Trade Organization during the
2005 Ministerial Conference.[4] In 2012, Inmedia was involved in a defamation lawsuit brought against it by Oriental Daily News, which resulted in a loss for Inmedia and a fine of HK$100,000.[5][6] The same year, the company's headquarters were targeted and sabotaged by a group of paid thugs.[7][8] Journalists also received threat calls shortly after the incident.[7] Prior to March 2013, the company transitioned from operating as a limited company in Hong Kong to
Nevada, United States, and functioning as an offshore company.[9]
In 2019, in response to the assault and mistreatment of journalists by the Hong Kong Police Force during the
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, Inmedia, along with Stand News,
RTHK, Ming Pao, am730, and Initium Media, jointly held a silent protest during a police press conference.[10] In 2020, Inmedia changed its full Chinese name from "Hong Kong Inmedia" to "Inmedia" to prevent the inclusion of the term "Hong Kong Independence" in its name and to avoid accusations of sedition.[11] In 2021, the Hong Kong Police Force conducted a search of Inmedia's offices for documents related to
national security law cases.[12][13] Following the shutdown of Apple Daily, Stand News, and
Citizen News, Inmedia was widely regarded as one of the last independent pro-democratic media outlets remaining in Hong Kong.[2][14][15][16] According to a 2022 survey conducted by the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Inmedia ranked first in terms of credibility among online media outlets in Hong Kong.[17][18] In the same year, Inmedia was barred from attending and covering activities of the Hong Kong government.[19][20]