Official apps pose hurdles for Hong Kong’s ethnic minority groups, study finds

Members of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority groups enjoy near-universal access to digital devices but are not benefiting as much as they could from online services, the equality watchdog has said, urging the government to harness AI to provide multilingual support and simplify app registration.

In a study released on Thursday on improving the digital divide among ethnic minority groups, Equal Opportunities Commission chairwoman Linda Lam Mei-sau said members of the community primarily used electronic devices to browse social media for leisure and read news, rather than to access the online services.

“The prevalence of digital usage among ethnic minority groups is high,” Lam said. “But whether electronic devices truly support them in their daily lives, such as making transactions and accessing government welfare information, our research shows there is room for improvement.”

A research team from the University of Hong Kong interviewed 412 members of ethnic minorities groups between July 2024 and March last year to examine how they used devices to access public information, healthcare services, social media and government applications.

It found that more than 99 per cent of respondents owned a smartphone and used social media daily, a level the team described as “universal”. But only 55 per cent said the information provided by government apps was user-friendly.

More than 60 per cent of interviewees had registered for the Hospital Authority’s “HA Go” app, but only 25 per cent used it to book appointments.

Almost 60 per cent of respondents preferred walk-in appointments or telephone booking.