The Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) in Hong Kong was also critical about the police's obstruction of news coverage during the raid, raising worries about propaganda in the absence of press freedom. Human Rights Watch stated that the raid on "Apple Daily" may be motivated by a desire to censor an independent Chinese media outlet. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the national security law was used to "suppress critical pro-democracy opinion and restrict press freedom", and called for Lai's immediate release. Activist groups in Taiwan advocated for further international sanctions on Chinese government officials to support the arrestees.