Hong Kong telecoms provider blocks website for first time citing security law (updated)

Pccw

14/01/2021 07:51

(Adds comment from website's editor)
    HONG KONG, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Hong Kong Broadband Network
(HKBN) said on Thursday it has blocked a website that publishes
material mainly on 2019 anti-government protests, to comply with
the city's national security law, marking the first censorship
of a local website under the law.
    While the internet in mainland China is heavily censored and
access to foreign social media platforms and news sites is
blocked, residents in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong have so far
enjoyed greater freedoms under the "one country, two systems"
framework.
    "We have disabled the access to the website in compliance
with the requirement issued under the National Security Law," a
spokesperson for internet service provider HKBN said in an email
to Reuters, adding that the action was taken on Jan. 13.
    The website, HKChronicles, first reported disruptions to its
service last week.
    On Sunday, the South China Morning Post newspaper, citing
unnamed sources, reported that Hong Kong police had invoked the
city's national security law for the first time to block
HKChronicles, which curates anti-government posts and publishes
personal information on Hong Kong police officers. The news has
caused concern among local residents and activists community.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JL071
    Naomi Chan, editor of HKChronicles, said HKBN's response had
been expected and it would not affect operations. Efforts would
continue to find ways to restore Hong Kongers' access to the
website, Chan said.    
    "This case represents a clear step towards the end of a
relatively free and open internet in Hong Kong," said Fergus
Ryan, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
    Other major internet service providers in Hong Kong, China
Mobile and PCCW, did not immediately reply to requests for
comment by Reuters on Thursday afternoon.
    HKBN did not comment on why HKChronicles faced issues last
week.
    The Hong Kong Security Bureau last week in an email declined
to comment on specific cases but said the police "will act on
the basis of actual circumstances and according to the law." 
    The police did not respond to a request for comment from
Reuters on Thursday.
    The security bureau said offences endangering national
security include secession, subversion, organisation and
perpetration of terrorist activities and collusion with a
foreign country or with external elements to endanger national
security. The offences are punishable with up to life in jail,
according to the security law.
    "All relevant action will be taken strictly in accordance
with the law," a Hong Kong Security Bureau spokeswoman added.
    Under the controversial security legislation imposed by
Beijing on the Chinese-ruled city in June, the police can ask
service providers to restrict access to electronic platforms or
messages that could pose a threat to national security.
    In mainland China, access to foreign social media platforms
and news sites such as Facebook and the New York Times is
blocked by what is called the Great Firewall, which filters and
blocks traffic between Chinese and overseas servers.
    Residents in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, in contrast, have
hitherto enjoyed freedoms unavailable on the mainland thanks to
a "one country, two systems" framework that is meant to be valid
until at least 2047.
    Rights groups have voiced concern that the enactment of the
national security law may herald the introduction of a
censorship mechanism similar to the Great Firewall in Hong Kong.
    "Closing this website represents another brick in the Great
Firewall that Beijing is gradually building up around Hong
Kong," Ryan said.
    Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong who specializes in privacy and online
communications, said: "In the long term, it will push activism
to go further underground, like people already switching to use
Signal," referring to a chat messaging app.
    
    

 (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger, Michael Perry and Hugh Lawson)