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Fears over Hong Kong anti-doxxing legislation will be proven false, Carrie Lam assures US tech giants, just as with national security law
- New law will show its value, city leader says in responding to letter from coalition representing tech giants such as Google and Facebook
- Lam compares their concerns to fears surrounding the security law before its imposition, saying none of them had come to pass
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Hong Kong’s leader has moved to allay fears raised by American tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo over a planned anti-doxxing law, saying the implementation of the legislation will prove its effectiveness and ease their concerns.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday said the coming overhaul of the city’s data privacy regime was aimed at addressing rampant cyber harassment following the anti-government protests of 2019.
Legislation now in its final stages of drafting will empower the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to investigate and take action against those who violate the new rules.
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But a coalition representing the United States companies and others warned in a recent submission to the office that the broad legal wording represented a potential barrier to trade and would discourage them from investing or offering their services in Hong Kong.
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“Any anti-doxxing legislation, which can have the effect of curtailing free expression, must be built on principles of necessity and proportionality,” read the letter from the Asia Internet Coalition.
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