International polling company pulls questions from Hong Kong survey over national security law fears
- London-headquartered YouGov yanks six questions from its survey, including two asking Hongkongers whether they thought the national security law damaged freedoms, or was necessary to protect the city
- Local pollsters say the broad wording of the law makes it difficult to gauge what questions or topics may run afoul of it
International polling company YouGov has asked a Hong Kong academic to drop questions about the city’s sweeping national security law from a survey he commissioned, raising questions about the room left for pollsters to measure public opinion freely in the city.
Stephan Shakespeare, the chief executive and co-founder of the London-headquartered company, said on Thursday that his group had to operate within local legal frameworks.
“YouGov wants to know what the world thinks. We are dedicated to pursuing this goal within the laws and regulations of the markets in which we operate,” he told the Post in a brief statement.
He made the comment after Dr Kobayashi Tetsuro, from the City University of Hong Kong’s department of media and communication, took to Twitter earlier this week to say that the company had requested he drop from an online survey some questions that might violate the controversial law.
The scholar said YouGov made the decision after receiving legal advice from Hong Kong lawyers, as well as the company’s legal teams in Singapore and its UK headquarters.
