New Hong Kong Watch report exposes transnational repression in Hong Kong's digital space
Today, Hong Kong Watch has published a report on how transnational repression has reached the digital space in Hong Kong and that of Hong Kongers around the world.
The report titled, Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact, situates digital rights within the HKSAR’s current human rights decline, and the legal framework which guarantees rights and freedoms on paper. This includes examining the impacts of the 2020 National Security Law, the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and several other pieces of legislation related to digital rights.
Building upon this legal foundation, the report then examines three case studies which demonstrate how digital rights are violated in the HKSAR, how this relates to violations of other rights and freedoms, and the impacts of such violations. The specific cases detailed are those of HKLEAKS, ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, and Mika Yuen Ching-ting.
The report finds that violations of digital rights in Hong Kong have adversely affected other rights and freedoms in the city, and that violations of other rights and freedoms in the crackdown have also impacted digital rights.
Furthermore, as the digital world transcends traditional borders, the violations in Hong Kong are increasingly affecting Hong Kongers in exile and digital tools are playing a growing role in transnational repression.
The report concludes by offering policy recommendations to the US, UK, EU and Canadian governments and technology companies, such as:
Reviewing the regulations that technology companies are under in the HKSAR;
Including a digital component to defining and addressing transnational repression so that it includes online threats and harassment, and;
Imposing targeted sanctions on HKSAR government officials responsible for violations of rights and freedoms, including digital rights.
Hong Kong Watch will launch this report at events in London, Brussels, Washington, and Ottawa this month, where participants will have the opportunity to hear from prominent Hong Kong activists who have been affected by transnational repression in the digital space.
You can read the full report here.
Anouk Wear, Research and Policy Advisor of Hong Kong Watch and the author of this report, said:
“Since the crackdown on Hong Kong started in 2019, digital rights and related rights and freedoms have been systematically violated. While the online decline may be less visible, it is very real and has significant repercussions for those affected. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments are leveraging digital tools to exert their ideological influence and to threaten dissidents abroad.
This report urges governments and technology companies to seriously consider how they can address digital forms of transnational repression against Hong Kongers who have fled from repression in Hong Kong and continue to face violations of their rights and freedoms abroad.”
This project is funded by a grant from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).
新香港監察報告揭露跨國鎮壓長臂伸向香港數碼空間
香港監察今天發表報告，探討跨國鎮壓的長臂如何伸向香港和世界各地香港人的數碼空間。
這份報告題為《隱形衰退：香港數碼權利侵害行為及其影響》（Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact）把數碼權利放在香港目前人權狀況衰退，以及書面保障權利和自由的法律框架內。這包括研究2020年《國家安全法》、2024年《維護國家安全條例》及數項其他有關數碼權利法例的影響。
報告然後在這個法律基礎上闡釋三個個案研究，展示香港數碼權利如何受到侵害、這與侵害其他權利和自由有何關係，以及這類侵權行為的影響。所詳述的具體個案為「香港解密」（HKLEAKS）網站、《願榮光歸香港》和留學日本的香港學生袁靜婷。
報告發現，侵害香港數碼權利的行為對香港其他權利和自由造成了不利影響，而在當局打壓中侵害其他權利和自由的行為亦影響了數碼權利。
此外，因數碼世界跨越傳統邊界，在香港發生的侵權行為愈來愈影響流亡港人，而數碼工具在跨國鎮壓中亦發揮愈來愈大的作用。
報告最後向美國、英國、歐盟、加拿大政府和科技公司提出政策建議，例如：
審視科技公司在香港所受制的規例；
定義並應對跨國鎮壓時納入數碼元素，繼而涵蓋網上威脅和騷擾，以及；
點名制裁侵害數碼權利等權利和自由的香港政府官員。
香港監察本月會在倫敦、布魯塞爾、華盛頓和渥太華舉行的活動中發布這份報告，參加者屆時會有機會聆聽受到數碼跨國鎮壓影響的知名香港社運人士分享經驗。
請在此處閱覽報告全文。
香港監察研究及政策顧問、報告作者Anouk Wear 華穆清表示：
「自2019年香港打壓開始以來，數碼權利及相關權利和自由一直受到系統式侵害。網上發生的衰退可能不太明顯，但卻非常真實，會對受影響者造成重大負面影響。中港政府正利用數碼工具影響意識形態，並威脅海外異見人士。
這份報告促請各國政府和科技公司認真思索如何應對針對香港人的數碼跨國鎮壓，這些港人雖然逃離了香港打壓，但其權利和自由在外國卻依然受到侵害。」
這個項目由臺灣民主基金會（TFD）資助。