Scenario in HK

Laws and Regulations

For the purpose of the defence of innocent dissemination, section 25(5) sets out its relevant elements. The words will be treated as published innocently if either of such conditions "(a) that the publisher did not intend to publish the words of and concerning that other person, and did not know of circumstances by virtue of which they might be understood to refer to him; or (b) that the words were not defamatory on the face of them, and the publisher exercised all reasonable care in relation to the publication…" is satisfied and in either case, all "reasonable care" must be exercised by the publisher in relation to the publication. At this point, what constitutes a "reasonable care" is not specified but understood that it should not be reasonably expected an ISP to review all the contents or messages the website to which it provides access. In such cases, it will be open for the Hong Kong court to decide. Decisions in other jurisdictions e.g. the decision in Godfrey v. Demon Internet Ltd as discussed above may be a good source as guidance on how "reasonable care" be dealt with in HK.

In view of the defamation law and cases in HK so far, it reflects an immense need for further development, education and application of the defamation law to the Internet in the information age.