My Take | Greater clarity is needed on the issue of collecting publications
- Working out what is seditious and what is not under the law is the problem. People need to know so they can live their lives accordingly
The process for passing Hong Kong’s domestic national security law is moving at a breathtaking pace. Much of the focus has been on new provisions. But questions have also been raised about a law already in place.
Possession of seditious publications is a crime that will not change much under the government’s proposals. But the maximum penalty is to be increased from 12 months imprisonment to three years.
This has prompted some residents to wonder if their collections of books, newspapers or other publications, as well as digital content, may fall foul of the law.
Officials have stressed the offence is only committed if there is knowledge the material is seditious. And it is a defence if you have a reasonable excuse. The problem is working out what is seditious and what is not. There is no cause for undue alarm. But this is one of the many areas of the bill where greater clarity is needed.
The broader sedition law, focusing on the use of words, was not used by the authorities for decades. It was revived after the passing by Beijing of an overarching national security law for Hong Kong in 2020, following months of civil unrest. Jail terms have been imposed for offences ranging from wearing a T-shirt calling for Hong Kong’s “liberation” to importing a children’s book found by a court to “discredit and vilify” the authorities.
There have long been calls for the sedition law to be modernised and its scope narrowed, in accordance with the trend elsewhere. The Bar Association suggested this during the public consultation on the new laws.