Pro-government group accused of posting video of secondary pupils without consent
Anger after video of children praising political reform plan is posted online without their consent
Pupils' privacy should be respected, the education minister said yesterday, after three schools accused a pro-government group of putting a video clip of students praising the government's political reform package online without pupils' consent.
The schools said the youngsters were emotionally disturbed after the video drew both support and attacks from internet users.
The parents of one pupil at Maryknoll Fathers' School in Sham Shui Po, have already lodged a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner, accusing the group of infringing privacy.
Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim said his bureau would offer assistance to the schools if they needed it. "This is basic respect for the students, and the privacy right of the students is very important," Ng said.
He urged any party that still had the video, filmed in April by the Federation of Hong Kong Guangxi Community Organisations, to delete it. But Ng declined to comment when asked whether the bureau itself would look into the federation's activity and the video incident.
The six-minute, 48-second video shows seven pupils, some in school uniform, taking turns to say what was good about implementing the government's blueprint on reform.
They were among 40 pupils taking part in interviews in April as part of an application for a study tour to the United States this summer organised by the federation.