TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hong Kong’s High Court on Thursday night (Oct. 31) agreed to a request from the special administrative region’s Department of Justice to issue an interim injunction on certain types of internet comments.
In effect until 10.30 p.m. on Nov. 15, the injunction forbids any online incitement to use or threaten to use violence to injure or destroy property. It covers the LIHKG Forum (also known as Hong Kong PTT) and the cloud-based instant messaging service Telegram.
Netizens have criticized the government’s move as childish and oppressive and said it is a mishandling of the current situation. Some have questioned whether LIHKG and Telegram servers are actually located in Hong Kong, as it would be difficult to enact the injunction otherwise through the territory’s ordinary law enforcement.
The injunction came as netizens began calling on peers to don joke masks at a Halloween night rally to troll the mask ban implemented by the Hong Kong government in October. On its Facebook, LIHKG urged the Hong Kong government to listen to the public's demands and not to always resort to suppressive tactics, which undermine Hong Kong's international reputation.
Francis Fong (方保僑), honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Industry Association, pointed out that the Department of Justice's move seemed to be a precursor to an internet ban, according to Liberty Times. Pan-Democratic members of the Legislative Council condemned this use of “extreme power.”
During the rally Thursday night, protesters marched from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to Lan Kwai Fong in Central. The crowd set off at about 8 p.m.
Hong Kong police had issued a prior statement saying that costumes and masks were not forbidden in the streets for the spooky festival but that police had the legal right to request that participants remove masks and face coverings. Those not complying would have these items forcibly removed and could face arrest.
According to the latest numbers, 2,711 people have been arrested since the anti-extradition bill protests began in June. Of these, about 200 are university students, most of whom come from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (58) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (57).
