Intranet rules 'threat to freedom of speech'

A move by the Hong Kong Institute of Education to clamp down on intranet messages threatens freedom of speech, academics and students have claimed.

They were speaking after the institute said in a statement that an additional clause had been added to existing terms and conditions for posting messages on the intranet in order 'to further protect the institute against third-party claims of liability'.

The statement also said the institute would remind staff that 'they are expected at all times to act in a manner which promotes the interests of the institute and which does not cause embarrassment to the institute'.

As soon as the HKIEd inquiry report was released on Wednesday, it issued a statement to announce that, after taking legal advice, it took 'immediate steps' to remove an article written and posted on the intranet by former vice-president Bernard Luk Hung-kay.

The '10,000-character letter' spelt out how pressure was being imposed on the institute to merge with Chinese University and that a 'senior official' had instructed the institute's president, Paul Morris, to sack four academics who criticised the education reform.

Professor Luk later identified the official as former permanent secretary for education and manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, who resigned on Wednesday from her post as ICAC chief after the inquiry report found the allegations against her 'partially established'.