My Take | Tougher anti-doxxing law is urgently needed in Hong Kong
- Besides police officers and their families, statistics show victims are just as likely to be critics of the government and police as supporters
Some opposition figures and government critics such as former Democrat lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting have claimed it’s a move to placate the police, whose officers and their families were heavily targeted during the social unrest of 2019.
Looking at the numbers, that may well be the case. However the real question is not whether the government is caving in to police demands, but whether better legal protection and tougher penalties are in the public interest.
Again, looking at the figures, an amended law seems justified. After all, no one wants to be doxxed or see their loved ones targeted.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said it had handled 5,560 doxxing cases between June 2019 and last month. It has referred more than 1,460 alleged breaches to police for investigation. It has also sent to the Department of Justice 59 cases which involved suspected violation of injunctions forbidding doxxing of police and judges.
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But more revealing is a statistical breakdown of the victims. Between June 2019 and September last year, the PCPD received 4,714 doxxing complaints.