Amnesty International's Patrick Poon said around 14 February 2020 that it was still unknown whether Chen (and another citizen journalist, Fang Bin) had been arrested or placed under "forced quarantine". Poon called on China to inform their families and provide access to a lawyer, stating: "Otherwise, it's a legitimate concern that they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment." A Human Rights Watch representative stated the Chinese government "has a history of harassing and detaining citizens for speaking the truth or for criticizing the authorities during public emergencies, for example, during SARS in 2003, Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, Wenzhou train crash in 2011 and Tianjin chemical explosion in 2015." Around March 2020 it was reported that Li Zehua, a citizen journalist in part inspired by Chen, had also disappeared; Li resurfaced in April 2020. The One Free Press Coalition included Chen in both its March 2020 and April 2020 lists of the ten "most urgent" cases. The Committee to Protect Journalists has also called for Chen's release.