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In Hong Kong, censorship, which refers to the suppression of speech or other public communication, raises issues regarding the freedom of speech. By law, censorship is usually practised against the distribution of certain materials, particularly child pornography, obscene images, sedition, separatism, state secrets, and reports on court cases which may lead to unfair trial.
Prior to the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, Hong Kong boasted one of the highest degrees of press freedom in Asia.[1] Since the handover to China, Hong Kong has been granted relative legal, economic, and political autonomy under the one country, two systems policy. In contrast to the rest of China, where control over media is pervasive, Hong Kong's freedom of speech, of the press, and of publication are protected under Article 27 of the Hong Kong Basic Law[2] and Article 16 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.[3]
Observers have noted a trend of decreasing press freedom in the territory, including physical attacks on journalists, acts targeted at liberal media and against their owners, withdrawal of advertising revenues, and appointment of compliant pro-Beijing chief editors.[4] The decline in Hong Kong's ranking on the Press Freedom Index published annually by Reporters Without Borders has been vertiginous: it stood at 148th in 2022, having dropped 68 places from the year prior; it ranked 71st place in 2015.[5][6][7]
In 2020, under the Hong Kong national security law enacted by the Chinese central government, the Commissioner of Police was granted the authority to compel cooperation or the removal of content by service providers if deemed a threat to national security, while there are now prohibitions on the incitement of hatred against the government of China or Hong Kong.
- ^ Lee Chin-Chuan (1997). "Media Structure and Regime Change in Hong Kong", The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration with China. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 160–161.
- ^ "Basic Law Full Text – chapter (3)". Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- ^ "Hong Kong Bill of Rights". hkhrm.org.hk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012.
- ^ "Closing a Vital Window into China". Foreign Policy. 4 February 2015.
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