Be wary of social media ‘liking’ and avoid responding to doxxing attacks, Hong Kong’s judiciary tells judges

Hong Kong judges should think twice about whether their social media interactions could damage public confidence in the judiciary and refrain from personally responding to doxxing attacks, newly revised official guidelines have suggested.

While the “Guide to judicial conduct” acknowledged that a lack of basic knowledge about social media might suggest a judge was “out of touch” with today’s world, it urged them to refrain from using the platform in a way that could pose a risk to themselves or compromise their integrity.

“[The] new additions to the guidance in this edition are reflective of the information technology era in which we live,” Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung said in the preface of the guide, revised for the first time since 2004.

“Judges should be wary of ‘friending’, ‘liking’, ‘following’ or other forms of online or social media association with any person, group or entity where such association may undermine the perception of their impartiality in a particular case or could damage public confidence in the judiciary in general,” the guide reads.

Those sitting on the bench should refrain from commenting on cases, legal issues, litigants, witnesses or lawyers on social media, it stated, adding that ex parte communications between a party or its lawyer and the judge through online platforms were also inappropriate.

Judges should take reasonable care that information about their personal life did not enter the public domain unnecessarily through their use of social media or by postings from family members and friends, it added.

For the first time, the guide addressed online abuse and doxxing, asking judges to refrain from responding directly to the attacks and to instead consult the court leader when appropriate.