The National Security Department of the police today (9th) arrested the administrators of "Secrets for Civil Servants", the two are staff of the Civil Affairs and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Information Technology Office, saying that the two "are suspected of causing or deepening differences in Hong Kong by posting articles through the social platform group many times. Incitement to hate and hostility among class residents."
"Civil servant Secrets" has various posts every day. After the arrest, many netizens questioned where the "boundary" is, and worried that complaining about the content of the work would also become illegal.
"It's not that simple!" said Executive Council member and SC Tong Jiahua.
"Hong Kong 01" is making enquiries with the Civil Service Bureau on the incident.
A screenshot of the "civil servant secrets" group on August 5 is still circulating on social platforms, but when I tried to search for this group on social platforms, I didn't find it, and it is suspected that it has been closed.
(Screenshot from the Internet)
Guo Yinshu also pointed out that "all are talking about people abusing power, favoritism, etc."
Guo Yinshu, Dean of the Civil Service College, said in an earlier interview that he had read the "secrets of civil servants" to understand the opinions of civil servants. Whatever happens, that's enough."
In fact, the "secrets of civil servants" have many posts every day, many of which are complaining about other colleagues and criticizing government policies. For example, someone criticized colleagues for cooking soup in the office earlier.
However, there are also civil servants who use their professional knowledge to explain their work methods to the public. For example, in January this year, a self-proclaimed staff member of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department explained that because it is technically difficult to isolate hamsters, the government's best course of action is to destroy hamsters humanely.
Earlier, a civil servant posted on "Civil Service Secrets", saying that a colleague was cooking soup in the office.
(online picture)
Tang Jiahua pointed out that it is necessary to judge the intention of the publisher and the consequences caused by it
Tang Jiahua said that the provisions cited by the National Security Office of the Police are the same as the "crime of incitement" in the Criminal Offences Ordinance, and two preconditions must be met before it can be established. "If there is only one of these points, for example, he has seditious intentions and writes a few words, but it is not made public in the end, it cannot constitute this crime."
After the arrests, some voices on the Internet questioned where the "line" was, asking whether civil servants would violate the National Security Law if they groaned and worked hard on the Internet, or complained about another social class.
Tang Jiahua said that "it's not that simple", because there is an objective definition of whether there is seditious intent, but he emphasized that each case should be left to the court to judge whether it conforms to the crime defined by the law, and cannot be simply generalized.
Tang Jiahua said that the court will examine whether the publisher has seditious intent and the consequences of the speech.
(File photo/Photo by Li Zetong)
Liang Xi pointed out that there have been circulars circulating within the government that should not be made public
Leung Hee, a member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, pointed out that the content of "civil servant secrets" not only "spit and frightened bitter water", but also contained "revelations" related to the internal operation of the government, including some guidelines and circulars that should not be disclosed and should only be circulated internally. , which obviously violates the relevant codes of civil servants, and therefore supports the operation of the National Security Department.
Liang Xi said that "civil servant secrets" have many wanton attacks and unreasonable accusations against the SAR government, provoking social conflicts, believing that it exceeds the boundaries of freedom of speech, and in the past, there were also established political parties that demanded the government to deal with it seriously.
Regarding some of the content "spit bitterness", Liang Xi said that of course he respects these remarks, but if some remarks are aimed at smearing the SAR government and causing social hatred, the government should not be soft-hearted, emphasizing that online platforms are not outside the law and freedom of speech There are also basic bottom lines.
Di Zhiyuan urges greater transparency to prevent public from feeling limited speech
Di Zhiyuan, a member of the New Thinking Legislative Council, pointed out that cases involving the National Security Department or sedition crimes are more sensitive. The relevant departments should improve the transparency of the cases and release public information as soon as possible, such as the reasons and grounds for arrest, etc., so as to prevent the public from feeling that freedom of speech is affected. limit, or make useless speculation.
He believes that as long as the public is based on facts, there is no problem whether they are discussing or criticizing the government, because everyone has different views, and Hong Kong people are also used to multiple voices, unless the remarks involve false information or are not based on facts.
The National Security Department detained 4 civil servants, including "Secrets of Civil Servants", and the 2 administrators group was suspected to be closed.
