Hong Kong’s new police chief has called for a “fake news” law to tackle “hostility against the police,” in what analysts see as an indication of the next phase of the crackdown on free speech in the territory.
“I understand that there are residents who are still hostile against us,” Hong Kong Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee (蕭澤頤), 55, said at his first media briefing since taking office on Friday. “In this regard, I told my colleagues that many of these torn relationships and hostility against the police are due to fake news.”
“There is no legal definition of fake news at the moment, but if there is any legislation that could help us bring these people to justice, as law enforcers, we absolutely welcome it,” he added.
Photo: Reuters
The public image of the Hong Kong Police Force has been severely hit by pro-democracy protests that began in 2019.
Since the summer of 2019, support ratings for the territory’s once respected police force have plummeted, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute says.
Yet it was the talk of “fake news” amid the controversial closure of one of the territory’s most popular newspapers, Apple Daily, that alarmed critics.
They say that the label could be used to further muzzle dissent.
“The authorities are just adding more weapons into their pocket in order to stifle dissent,” said Chris Yeung (楊健興), a veteran journalist and a former Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman. “It looks very likely that this proposal of ‘fake news’ law will be put on the agenda in the next legislative session.”
Willy Lam (林和立), an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, worries that following last week’s closure of the Apple Daily, some less powerful and resourceful outlets might be the next target in an ongoing crackdown on free speech.
“The authorities have borrowed what mainland China is doing to penalize netizens critical of the government,” he said. “Independent journalism and media are facing a tough time in Hong Kong, and the situation may get worse.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) first floated the idea of “fake news” legislation in February, when she complained that misinformation had been on the rise since the mass protests of 2019 and the COVID-19 health crisis began.
Last month, Lam said again that she was considering the introduction of a “fake news” law to prevent “misinformation, hatred and lies.”
Shortly after that, the police sent a glossy pamphlet called “Know the facts: rumors and lies can never be right” to a few Hong Kong-based newsrooms.
Accompanying it was a letter addressed to editors, warning against “wicked and slanderous attacks” on the police.
In response to Lam’s remark, the International Federation of Journalists, a Brussels-based umbrella of media unions, said in a statement: “International experience has shown the problematic nature of such legislation, which further mires governments and courts in baseless cases and ultimately becomes a greater challenge to democracies at large.”
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he