Hong Kong Watch launches report on digital transnational repression in London
Yesterday evening in the British Parliament, Hong Kong Watch launched its new report on the decline of digital rights in Hong Kong and digital transnational repression against Hong Kongers in exile.
In this opening event to promote the report, Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact, a full audience heard from Blair McDougall MP, Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Trustee of Hong Kong Watch, Chung Ching Kwong, Senior Analyst at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), and Simon Cheng, Founder of Hongkongers in Britain.
Blair McDougall MP spoke about the importance of protecting digital rights in the activist space. He highlighted how cyberspace has become an increasing concern over the years that he has been engaged in human rights advocacy, and welcomed our report calling for the UK government and technology companies to take these concerns seriously.
Benedict Rogers provided an overview of the report, sharing how he has been the target of spam on X, including fake accounts mimicking him and reaching out to MPs and journalists. Mr Rogers also said that Hong Kong Watch has been targeted under the National Security Law, including by its website being blocked in Hong Kong. He added: “The most serious threat is Hong Kongers who have come to the UK thinking they are free here, and yet still face threat through the digital space.”
Both Chung Ching Kwong and Simon Cheng detailed their personal experiences and those of the Hong Kong diaspora with digital transnational repression. Ms Kwong said that her pro-democracy magazine, Flow HK, was blocked in Hong Kong last month due to being “seditious” in nature. While Reporters Without Borders successfully restored public access to Flow HK last week, concerns remain as Hong Kong activists receive threatening and anonymous online messages and have been victim to the doxxing of their personal information. Hong Kong activists “often have to think through things you shouldn’t have to think through… especially if [they] have family and friends back in Hong Kong,” said Ms Kwong.
Ms Kwong also emphasised the importance of British businesses understanding the general and digital risks of doing business in Hong Kong, and encouraged Parliament to include a digital component in the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
To conclude the event, Mr Rogers urged the UK government and technology companies to review the regulations that British technology companies are under in Hong Kong, to impose sanctions on Hong Kong government officials responsible for digital rights violations, starting with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, and to review the special privileges of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, which could be leveraged to inflict digital threats against Hong Kong activists.
The full report can be read here.
This project is funded by a grant from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).
香港監察在英國國會發布數碼跨國鎮壓報告
香港監察昨晚在英國國會發布新報告，內容圍繞香港數碼權利惡化和針對流亡港人的數碼跨國鎮壓。
這是首場推廣報告《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）的活動。觀眾幾乎坐滿全場，聆聽英國國會議員Blair McDougall MP、香港監察共同創辦人兼信託人羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）、對華政策跨國議會聯盟（IPAC）高級分析員鄺頌晴和英國港僑協會創辦人鄭文傑分享。
Blair McDougall MP談到保障社運人士數碼權利的重要性。他重點提出在他從事人權倡議的多年來，網絡議題如何受到愈來愈多關注，並歡迎香港監察報告呼籲英國政府和科技公司認真看待這些關注。
羅傑斯概括這份報告，並分享他成為社交媒體X垃圾郵件目標的經歷，當中包括模仿他並以他名義接觸國會議員和記者的假帳戶。羅傑斯亦指出香港監察被香港當局以《國家安全法》針對，包括網站在香港被封鎖。他補充：「最嚴重的威脅是香港人來到英國，本以為自己在這地是自由的，但其實仍然面對數碼層面上的威脅。」
鄺頌晴和鄭文傑均詳細描述了他們個人及其他海外港人受到數碼跨國鎮壓的經歷。鄺頌晴指出，她有份擔任編輯委員的流散港人網上雜誌《如水》（Flow HK）上月因涉嫌「煽動」而在香港被封鎖。雖然無國界記者組織上星期成功恢復網站的公眾瀏覽權，但有見香港社運人士不時收到威脅匿名網上訊息，個人資料亦曾被「起底」，憂慮依然存在。鄺頌晴表示，香港社運人士「時常要考慮清楚不應該考慮的事情……尤其是如果［他們］有家人和朋友在香港」。
鄺頌晴亦強調英國企業必須了解在香港營運的一般及數碼風險，並鼓勵英國國會將數碼元素納入《網絡安全及韌性法案》（Cyber Security and Resilience Bill）。
活動尾聲時，羅傑斯促請英國政府和科技公司審視英國科技公司在香港所受制的規例；由香港特首李家超開始制裁侵害數碼權利的香港政府官員；並檢視香港駐倫敦經濟貿易辦事處的特權，這些特權可能被用來對香港社運人士施加數碼威脅。
請在此處閱覽報告全文。
這個項目由臺灣民主基金會（TFD）資助。