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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam (in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology), in the Legislative Council today (May 30):
Question:
Internet platforms for members of the public to express their views have become very popular in the past few years. I have recently received complaints from some members of the public that defamatory remarks had been made against them. Moreover, a member of the public has been convicted recently of publishing on the Internet hyperlinks linking to web sites containing obscene photographs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has assessed the public's recognition of the liabilities arising from publishing messages on the Internet; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) efforts are being made to enhance the public's recognition of the applicability of existing laws to the Internet; if so, of the details of such efforts; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) it will launch publicity and public education campaigns, such as setting up additional thematic web sites and including relevant topics in school curricula, so as to explain to the public and students the applicability of existing laws to the Internet; if it will, of the details and timetables of such campaigns; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Regarding the question raised by the Hon Sin Chung-kai, my reply is as follows:
(a) The Government has not done any specific assessment on the public's recognition on their legal liabilities when publishing information on the Internet. However, in promoting the public awareness of technology crime through the media and other platform, we have included the message that legislation in Hong Kong generally applies equally to the physical and "cyber" worlds. This message is also included in the one-stop information security portal (www.infosec.gov.hk) which contains dedicated sections on "Computer Related Crime" and "Related Ordinance". These provide useful references for the public in applying the existing legislation on the web platform.
(b) The Government has been raising the public's recognition of the applicability of existing laws to the Internet through a large number of community events, forums and publicity channels, and the information security portal. Various Government Bureaux and Departments have arranged promotional and educational programmes within their respective portfolios, for example -
(i) The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) maintains the one-stop information security portal to facilitate enterprises and the general public to obtain various resources on information security. The OGCIO has produced an Announcement in the Public Interest, TV and radio programme on the proper use of Internet as well as computer crimes; and also collaborated with industry players and professional organisations to organise free seminars / conferences for raising the public awareness on cyber crime. It is also considering to enhance the information security portal to include advice on generally acceptable usage of the Internet platform for communication and information dissemination.
(ii) The Hong Kong Police Force website (www.police.gov.hk) contains information to educate the public on preventing technology crime. The Hong Kong Police Force has also implemented the Technology Crime Prevention Strategy to promote information technology security and cyber ethics among youths and students, under which talks on technology crime are delivered at schools, universities, and vocational training institutes. Public briefing sessions on technology crime are also conducted for different sectors of the community.
(iii) The Intellectual Property Department (IPD), in collaboration with the Customs and Excise Department and major stakeholder groups, launched in May 2006 a series of publicity activities to promote respect for intellectual property rights (IPR) for information publishing in the digital environment including the Internet. The publicity activities included TV and radio Announcements in the Public Interest, the organisation of radio partnership programmes with various radio stations, educational TV programme targeting Internet piracy, and the launching of the "I Pledge & Youth Ambassador Against Internet Piracy" Scheme to solicit the support of 11 local youth uniformed groups (with around 200,000 members) in the protection of IPR.
(c) Bureaux and departments will continue with their publicity and public education campaigns to comply with the law in their activities conducted on the Internet. For example -
(i) The Education and Manpower Bureau established a committee in collaboration with a number of government departments and community organisations in October 2002 to promote computer and cyber ethics. The committee has set up a "Cyber Ethics for Students and Youth" website (http://cesy.qed.hkedcity.net/index_main.php), provided advice and guidelines on the proper use of computers and Internet to schools, parents and students, and designed and produced relevant teaching resources for teachers. Topics on cyber ethics have been incorporated into the existing computer studies-related curricula and the new senior secondary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum to guide students to use ICT responsibly, ethically, and legally.
(ii) The Police has been disseminating messages on technology crime prevention and related issues through the television programme "Police Report". In addition, it has cooperated with a private company to form a cadre of Junior Police Call Information Technology Security Ambassadors to specifically disseminate technology crime prevention messages to their peers and schoolmates.
(iii) IPD has launched a series of primary and secondary school visits programme with the aim of promoting respect for intellectual property rights (IPR) in the younger generation. In 2006, this programme covered 71 schools and 27,483 students. The message of respect for IPR in the digital environment has also been disseminated in the above programme and in the IP Tutor Programme organised for schools from March to May 2007. To promote awareness of intellectual property protection among students and young people, IPD, in collaboration with the right-holders in the publishing industry organized an e-Card design competition in primary and secondary schools from March to April 2007. The theme was "Promotion of the respect for copyright". A large-scale publicity event together with the prize presentation ceremony will be scheduled for July 7, 2007.
Ends/Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:11
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