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Members of the public have contributed a wide range of views and suggestions on the review of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance during the four-month consultation which ended on January 31, a spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said.
"We received over 18,800 submissions from individuals and organisations. We are glad that the public participated actively in the exercise. Their feedback has helped us gain a better understanding of the community's concerns and expectations on the regulation of obscene and indecent articles distributed over various media platforms," the spokesman said.
Taking into account all the views collected, the Government will prepare more concrete proposals to improve the regulatory regime for a second round of consultation. The views will be documented in a report and the public will be invited to comment on the proposals.
On October 3 last year, the Government launched a four-month consultation exercise on a comprehensive review of the ordinance. The objective was to widely engage all parts of the community to help shape measures to improve the regulation of obscene and indecent articles.
During the consultation, six townhall discussion forums were held to gather views from District Council members and the public. Eleven focus group discussions covering various sectors, including women, education, youth, information technology, press and publication, arts and culture, legal, civil rights, social morals, were organised to allow for more in-depth deliberation on the subject.
The Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, and other officials attended 35 meetings, forums and seminars organised by various associations and organisations. A public opinion survey was conducted and an online discussion forum was also set up on a dedicated website (www.coiao.gov.hk) as a platform for exchange of views.
Ends/Monday, February 2, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:36
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