Tech giants threaten to quit Hong Kong over proposed privacy laws

Authorities claim the new law will only target illegal behaviour

Digital giants, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google, have threatened to stop offering their services in Hong Kong, if authorities proceed with proposals that could make tech firms liable for user-generated content.

Hong Kong's Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau proposed amendments to the city's data-protection laws in May, saying they were needed to tackle the practice of doxing (maliciously posting personally identifiable information online). Doxing was prevalent during pro-democracy protests in the city in 2019.

Under the proposed rules, authorities will have the power to force digital firms and websites to remove personal information from their platforms. Offenders could be issued penalties up to HK$1 million (about £93,230), and up to five years' in prison.

The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which includes Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, wrote to Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on the matter last month [pdf]. The group shared its concerns that the proposals were 'not aligned with global norms and trends', and could see individuals hit with severe sanctions.

Companies are concerned that the new rules could put their staff at risk of criminal investigations or prosecutions.

The letter's signatories argued that employees in Hong Kong are not responsible for the operations of the digital platforms, and do not have the access right to administer platform contents.

'The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from investing and offering their services in Hong Kong, thereby depriving Hong Kong businesses and consumers, whilst also creating new barriers to trade,' the letter said.

The tech firms added that any anti-doxing legislation 'must be built upon principles of necessity and proportionality'.

Hong Kong's CEO, Carrie Lam, dismissed these concerns on Tuesday. She said the new rules would target only unlawful doxing (although the proposals are vaguely worded and there is only Lam's word for this). She also likened the planned rules to a China-imposed national security law that she said had been "slandered and defamed".

"We are targeting illegal doxing and empowering the privacy commissioners to investigate and carry out operations, that's it," Ms Lam said in a news briefing.

"There is wide support that doxing should be legislated against," Lam said.

Lam said officials would meet with firms that are concerned about the changes.

Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997, with guarantees of continued freedoms.

Pro-democracy campaigners, however, complain that Beijing is suppressing the freedom of the people living in Hong Kong. In 2019, anger rose following the introduction of a controversial national security bill that would allow authorities to extradite criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China.

While the law was condemned internationally, the Hong Kong government maintains that it has brought stability to the city after months of protests.