Regulation of Web Content

Hong Kong (Tam, n.d.)

Instead of imposing regulations on specific industry, the regulations relating to online contents are more general and most are based on the principles of existing law regarding obscenity, defamation, sedition and gambling.

Obscene and indecent Articles
Under the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, it is an offence to:

• publish an obscene article (whether or not the person knows the article obscene);
• publish an indecent article to a person under the age of 18 years;
• publicly display any indecent matter (whether or not the person knows the matter is indecent); or
• publish certain other kinds of classified articles without the required warnings.

Articles that are considered to be "indecent" by the Obscene Articles Tribunal may not be distributed to under 18-year-olds and must carry a prescribed warning, which must be clearly and conspicuously displayed. The prescribed warning is:

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH MAY OFFEND AND MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED, CIRCULATED, SOLD, HIRED, GIVEN, LENT, SHOWN, PLAYED OR PROJECTED TO A PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS.

The terms "publish" and "article" have already been held to apply to material displayed on the Internet. What is "obscene" or "indecent" is decided by the Obscene and Indecent Articles Tribunal. "Indecency" is not fully defined, but may include "violence, depravity and repulsiveness".