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Thursday, September 17
Global Free Speech

Many in Hong Kong continue to fight against censorship (Diliff/WikiCommons) The website of The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK) has apparently been blocked in Hong Kong, the latest of a series of blockages in the city following the enactment of the draconian National Security Law (NSL) in 2020. Some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website. However, it appeared not to be a full blockage. The technical reason behind this remains to be investigated. Chloe Cheung, a former public affairs and advocacy manager at CFHK, was put on a Hong Kong police wanted list in December 2024 for “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”, with a HK$1,000,000 (£94,400) bounty. In response to enquiries from Index on Censorship, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Security Bureau replied: “Please approach the relevant internet service provider regarding the matter in question,” without confirming or denying the blockage. SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW – CSL’s parent company – did not respond to emailed enquiries. The Security Bureau’s response was the same as the one given to Voice of America, when the news outlet reported in October 2024 that online magazine Flow HK, founded by exiled pro-democracy activists, was blocked. A month before the incident, the Hong Kong police had written to the American company Automattic Inc. – which is behind WordPress – demanding it take down Flow HK. Their request was declined and the website was subsequently blocked. Since last week, some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website The CFHK website home page (CFHK) The implementation rules for the Article 43 of NSL grants power to the Hong Kong police to require internet service providers to take down websites that are “likely to constitute an offence endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security”. At least 10 websites have been blocked in Hong Kong since the enactment of the NSL, from the personal substack of American lawyer Samuel Bickett who writes about Hong Kong’s decline in human rights and sanction evasions, to UK-based advocacy group Hong Kong Watch and Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. At least 10 websites have been blocked in Hong Kong since the enactment of the NSL Hong Kong has also blocked the online 8964 Museum, which commemorates the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China. Several Taiwanese websites have also been blocked, including the websites of the Transitional Justice Commission, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Responding to its website being blocked in Hong Kong, David Green, the head of UK communications for CFHK told Index on Censorship: “Requiring ISPs to participate in monitoring and censoring websites, deemed undesirable by the Chinese Communist Party, is reminiscent of how the mainland’s Great Firewall took shape. “If left uncontested, it’s only a matter of time before such blockages – of which there are already more than a few – multiply. Can we seriously expect the CCP to allow Hong Kongers continued access to the truth, now that they’ve criminalised remembrance of 4 June?” READ MORE

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Many in Hong Kong continue to fight against censorship (Diliff/WikiCommons) The website of The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK) has apparently been blocked in Hong Kong, the latest of a series of blockages in the city following the enactment of the draconian National Security Law (NSL) in 2020. Some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website. However, it appeared not to be a full blockage. The technical reason behind this remains to be investigated. Chloe Cheung, a former public affairs and advocacy manager at CFHK, was put on a Hong Kong police wanted list in December 2024 for “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”, with a HK,000,000 (£94,400) bounty. In response to enquiries from Index on Censorship, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Security Bureau replied: “Please approach the relevant internet service provider regarding the matter in question,” without confirming or denying the blockage. SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW – CSL’s parent company – did not respond to emailed enquiries. The Security Bureau’s response was the same as the one given to Voice of America, when the news outlet reported in October 2024 that online magazine Flow HK, founded by exiled pro-democracy activists, was blocked. A month before the incident, the Hong Kong police had written to the American company Automattic Inc. – which is behind WordPress – demanding it take down Flow HK. Their request was declined and the website was subsequently blocked. Since last week, some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website The CFHK website home page (CFHK) The implementation rules for the Article 43 of NSL grants power to the Hong Kong police to require internet service providers to take down websites that are “likely to constitute an offence endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security”. At least 10 websites have been blocked in Hong Kong since the enactment of the NSL, from the personal substack of American lawyer Samuel Bickett who writes about Hong Kong’s decline in human rights and sanction evasions, to UK-based advocacy group Hong Kong Watch and Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. At least 10 websites have been blocked in Hong Kong since the enactment of the NSL Hong Kong has also blocked the online 8964 Museum, which commemorates the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China. Several Taiwanese websites have also been blocked, including the websites of the Transitional Justice Commission, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Responding to its website being blocked in Hong Kong, David Green, the head of UK communications for CFHK told Index on Censorship: “Requiring ISPs to participate in monitoring and censoring websites, deemed undesirable by the Chinese Communist Party, is reminiscent of how the mainland’s Great Firewall took shape. “If left uncontested, it’s only a matter of time before such blockages – of which there are already more than a few – multiply. Can we seriously expect the CCP to allow Hong Kongers continued access to the truth, now that they’ve criminalised remembrance of 4 June?” READ MORE

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The website of The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK) has apparently been blocked in Hong Kong, the latest of a series of blockages in the city following the enactment of the draconian National Security Law (NSL) in 2020.

Some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website. However, it appeared not to be a full blockage. The technical reason behind this remains to be investigated.

Chloe Cheung, a former public affairs and advocacy manager at CFHK, was put on a Hong Kong police wanted list in December 2024 for “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”, with a HK$1,000,000 (£94,400) bounty.

In response to enquiries from Index on Censorship, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Security Bureau replied: “Please approach the relevant internet service provider regarding the matter in question,” without confirming or denying the blockage. SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW – CSL’s parent company – did not respond to emailed enquiries.

The Security Bureau’s response was the same as the one given to Voice of America, when the news outlet reported in October 2024 that online magazine Flow HK, founded by exiled pro-democracy activists, was blocked. A month before the incident, the Hong Kong police had written to the American company Automattic Inc. – which is behind WordPress – demanding it take down Flow HK. Their request was declined and the website was subsequently blocked.

Since last week, some using Hong Kong internet service providers including SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong, PCCW and CSL have found themselves unable to access the CFHK website

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