Chapter 06 – Public Policy and the Internet

(Class notes from Dr. Ally Hui)

What is ‘Right to Freedom of Expression’ according to your class notes?

 Important right for free people everywhere

 Guaranteed by the law in various countries

What is the definition of free speech?

 The concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of
censorship or punishment
 Including nonverbal, visual, and symbolic forms of expression
 Right to speak anonymously

According to the class notes, what is the ‘Basic Law Chapter III – Fundamental Rights and Duties of the
Residents’? In addition, use google search or other search engine to find out what chapter and what
article that they are under the Basic Law?

Under the Basic Law in Hong Kong: Chapter III - Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Residents:

 The freedom and privacy of communication of Hong Kong residents shall be protected by law
 No department or individual may, on any grounds, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of
communication of residents except that:
o The relevant authorities may inspect communication in accordance with legal
procedures to meet the needs of public security or of investigation into criminal
offences

Hong Kong residents shall have:

 Freedom of speech, of the press and of publication

 Freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration
 Right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike

List the actions that NOT protected by the Basic Law:

 Obscenity
 Defamation
 Perjury (the offense of wilfully telling an untruth in a court after having taken an oath)
 Fraud (deception intended to result in financial or personal gain)
  Incitement of panic and crime
 Fighting words (written or spoken words intended to incite hatred or violence)
 Sedition (conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state / country)

How to control access to Information on the Internet?

 Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in USA

o K–12 schools and libraries use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect
children from harmful online content
 FRANCE to seek age limits for Facebook
o A draft bill approved by the French Cabinet proposes that
 Children under 16 must have parental permission to open a social-media
account
 It does not suggest how the law would be enforced
o Separately, the country will ban cell phones in elementary and middle schools in the
next academic year.
 Internet filtering
o Software installed with a Web browser
o Blocks access to certain Web sites deemed to contain inappropriate or offensive
materials
 Top-rated Internet filters for home users
o NetNanny Parental Controls
o CYBERsitter
o CyberPatrol
 URL filtering
o Blocks objectionable URLs or domain names
 Keyword filtering
o Blocks keywords or phrases
 Dynamic content filtering
o Web site's content is evaluated immediately before being displayed
 ISP (Internet Service Provider) blocking
o Subscribe to an ISP that performs blocking
o ClearSail/Family.NET prevents access to certain Web sites
 Internet Censorship: control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the
Internet
o Limiting access to certain Web sites
o Allowing access to only some content or modified content at certain Web sites
o Rejecting the use of certain keywords in search engine searches
o Tracking and monitoring the Internet activities of individuals
o Harassing or even jailing individuals for their Internet use.
What is anonymity on the Internet?

 Anonymous expression is expression of opinions by people who do not reveal their identity
 Freedom to express an opinion without fear of reprisal is an important right in democratic
society
 Anonymity is even more important in countries that do not allow free speech
 In the wrong hands, it can be a tool to commit illegal or unethical activities
 Doxing: Internet-based practice of researching and publishing private or identifiable information
about an individual or organization (typically with malicious intent)
o Common techniques: searching publicly available databases and social media websites
(like Facebook), hacking
o Why do doxing: law enforcement, business analysis, harassment, coercion
 Anonymous remailer service
o Computer program that strips the originating address from the email message
o Forwards the message to the intended recipient without header information to identify
the author
o Keeps what is communicated anonymous
o What is communicated and whether it is ethical or unethical, legal or illegal, is up to the
sender
 ISPs frequently subpoenaed to provide the identity of anonymous “John Doe”
 Anonymity on the Internet cannot be guaranteed

What is the three-part test for ‘Obscenity’?

 The dominant theme tends to excite lustful thoughts

 It depicts sexual conduct in an offensive way
 The work as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, scientific, or political value

What is the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance in Hong Kong?

 Publication covers distribution, circulation, selling, hiring, giving, or lending obscene articles
 Including distribution by e-mail or website

What is the Obscene Articles Tribunal?

 Carries out classification and determination with respect to articles and matter
 Classifies articles submitted to the tribunal
o Class I - neither obscene nor indecent
o Class II - indecent
o Class III – obscene
 The Obscene Articles Tribunal determine whether:
o the matter is indecent
 o the publication of the article or the public display of the matter is intended for the public
good
 Films and broadcasting material, etc are not classified by the Tribunal, but are dealt with under
the Film Censorship Ordinance and the Broadcasting Ordinance respectively

What is the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA)?

The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) is set up on 1 April 2012 to take up
the functions of the former Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority in relation to:

 Control of obscene and indecent articles

 Film classification
 Newspaper registration

What is the Communications Authority (CA)?

Established on 1 April 2012, the role of the Communications Authority (CA) is to regulate the
broadcasting and telecommunications industries in Hong Kong

 CA enforces the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance

 CA shares jurisdiction with:
o Customs and Excise Department in enforcing the fair trading sections of the Trade
Description Ordinance
o Competition Commission in enforcing the Competition Ordinance in the
telecommunications and broadcasting sectors

What is the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA)?

 They provide guidelines for members to follow in their provision of services

 To protect young people and public morals

What is Pornography?

 The Internet has been a boon to the pornography industry

 Individuals free to produce and publish what they want
o However, if what they distribute is judged obscene, they are subject to prosecution
 Many organizations take steps to stop access in the workplace
o Establishing a computer usage policy that prohibits access to pornography sites
o Identifying those who violate the policy
o Taking action against those users
o Failure to take action against pornography could result in sexual harassment lawsuit
 Many countries in the world have laws address child pornography
 o Offense to produce, possession, or distribute
 Computer technicians are required to report child pornography on clients' computers
 Sexting is sending of sexual messages, nude or seminude photos, or sexually explicit videos over
a cell phone
o Fast-growing trend

What is Defamation?

 Defamation is oral or written statement of alleged fact that is false and harms another person
 Defamation is commonly referred to as damaging the reputation of another person:
o Tends to lower the victim with respect to the "right-thinking" members of the society:
 Tends to make them reject and avoid the victim
o Subjects the victim to public hatred, contempt or ridicule
o Demeans the victim in his or her profession or business

There are two kinds of defamation. What are they?

 Libel ─ publication of defamatory matter in writing or in some other permanent form

 Slander ─ publication of defamatory matter by word of mouth or in some transient or temporary
form

What are the hate speeches that can be prosecuted?

 Clear threats and intimidation against specific individuals

o Sending threatening private messages over the Internet to a person
o Displaying public messages on a Website describing intent to commit acts of hate-
motivated violence against specific individuals
 Racist and xenophobic hate speech

How do social media sites deal with hate speech?

 Many social media sites reserve right to remove content that does not meet their standards
o Such actions do not violate the subscribers' right to freedom of expression because
these prohibitions are in the terms of service
 In May, 2016, European Commission and IT companies including Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft,
and Google's YouTube announced a code of conduct to tackle illegal hate speech online on their
platforms
o A pledge to review the majority of notifications of suspected illegal hate speech in less
than 24 hours, and remove or disable access to the content if necessary
o To provide regular training to staff around hate speech
What is ‘corporate blogging’?

 Some organizations allow employees to create their own personal blogs to:
o Reach out to partners, customers, and employees
o Improve their corporate image
 Blogs can provide uncensored commentary and interaction
o Criticism of corporate policies and decisions
 Could involve risk that employees might reveal company secrets and breach disclosure
regulations

What is ‘Fake News’?

Journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation spread via traditional print,
broadcast news or online social media.