18-year-old woman commits suicide in Tin Shui Wai

An 18-year-old woman in Tin Shui Wai, "Nana", was suspected of falling from a height in her home in Tin Shui Wai because of cross-border cyberbullying on the 26th of last month. Her mother hopes that the Hong Kong and mainland police will cooperate in investigating the incident, and initiate mutual legal assistance between the two places to punish the Internet with law. Bullies, give justice to their daughters.

A spokesman for the Security Bureau told the "Hong Kong 01" reporter that in the digital age, Internet users are getting younger and younger, and children and young people have greater opportunities to be exposed to different cyber crises.

The Government has been closely monitoring the risks posed by the use of the Internet by children and young people. Different policy bureaux and departments have taken different measures according to their areas of expertise to protect them from cyber threats.

Diagnosed with mild depression, "Nana" had mild autism since childhood. A group of self-proclaimed "toilet girls" bullied her online on the mainland online video platform "Bilibili", and finally "Nana" committed suicide on a live broadcast.

"Hong Kong 01" interviewed Legislative Council member and solicitor Jiang Yuhuan on "cross-border cyberbullying" and "mutual legal assistance between the two places". She hopes that the government will immediately legislate to ban cyberbullying, and Nana will be fair.

Regarding the law to ban online violence, Lei Mu said that she was worried that she would not be able to wait until that time, and she hoped that the Hong Kong and mainland police would work together to handle Nana's case while the law was being made.

Jiang Yuhuan said that there is currently no law in Hong Kong specifically dealing with or regulating cyberbullying, and the Hong Kong police cannot make requests for mutual legal assistance such as investigation and evidence collection to the mainland. He suggested that the Hong Kong government first legislate to prohibit cyberbullying to protect people like "Nana" who are not completely spiritual. Individuals with capacity, as these individuals are often vulnerable to cyberbullying, and the civil law is enacted to provide civil remedies for cyberbullies.

The Security Bureau believes that although there is currently no specific criminal offence against cyberbullying in Hong Kong, the world of the Internet is not a virtual world with no basis.

According to the existing laws in Hong Kong, most of the laws used to prevent crime in the real world are applicable to the Internet world.

Depending on the case,

The bureau mentioned that cyberbullying may violate existing criminal offences, such as extortion, criminal intimidation, and computer access with criminal or dishonest intent.

Such conduct may also violate the Data Protection Principles of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance if it involves improper use of personal data.

However, Jiang Yuhuan believes that the criminal offence of "intimidation" cannot fully regulate cyberbullying.

Without a criminal law against cyberbullying, the Hong Kong police and the Department of Justice cannot have a sufficient legal basis against cyberbullying.

She suggested that the government should immediately refer to other common law jurisdictions, including Singapore, the UK and the US, to have laws against cyberbullying.

She believes that the Hong Kong Security Bureau should legislate to regulate cyberbullies and telecommunications service providers.

She also advocated that telecommunications service providers should protect civil liberties and monitor the chat records of telecommunications services in accordance with the law to prevent the Internet from becoming a "band" of bullies, especially those who are underage and mentally incapacitated.

The Security Bureau mentioned that the Law Reform Commission (LRC) is conducting research on the subject of cyber crime, including reviewing existing legislation and other related measures and exploring related developments in other jurisdictions.

The Law Reform Commission just last month issued a consultation paper on the handling of crimes and jurisdictions that rely on computer networks. The consultation period is until October 19 this year.

The second part of the LRC's work will cover cyber-enabled offences, ie traditional offences where the scale or scope of an offence is expanded through the use of computers, computer networks or other forms of information and communication technology.

The Security Bureau will closely monitor the research progress and recommendations of the Law Reform Commission, as well as the development of online inappropriate content regulation in other jurisdictions.

Jiang Yuhuan believes that the computer network crime that the Law Reform Commission will study is not a specific criminal crime of cyberbullying. He hopes that the Security Bureau will immediately legislate to ban cyberbullying. Legislative work on cyberbullying.

She emphasized that the current novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has made more and more minors take online classes and grow up in the world of the Internet. It is imperative to legislate against cyberbullying.

She mentioned that the Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Deng Bingqiang, is a secretary who can do things and accomplish things. She hopes that he can communicate legislation with the Department of Justice so that Hong Kong will not have the next "Nana" who is killed by cyber violence.

"In this way, Nana will be able to hold her grudges and not die in vain," she said.

Lei’s mother said that her family had reported the case to the Hong Kong police about Nana’s cyber-violence, but most of the “toilet girls” involved in cyber-violence were in the mainland, and the case involved multiple online platforms and long-term cyber-violence. The cooperation of the police from the two places is the key.

At present, Lei Mu is also forming an "evidence group" with netizens who Nana knows, hoping to successfully search for evidence and file a case with the police in the mainland.

Lei Mu said that she has already filed a case with the police in Hong Kong; for the mainland part, she is still in the stage of collecting evidence, and she will consult a lawyer if she can file a case in the mainland.

"If necessary, the two places will file a case," she said, no matter how long it takes, she is determined to find the person responsible for the Internet violence.

"I just wanted to truthfully restore every word they said, and I don't know which one made her break down, but I want justice for her," she said.

At present, there is no legislation on cyber violence in Hong Kong. Although there has been a surge in cyber violence cases in the Mainland in recent years, criminal prosecution still needs to be prosecuted for crimes such as public insult, picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Nainai's case involves two jurisdictions, the mainland and Hong Kong, and cyber rioters are also scattered on platforms such as QQ, Weibo, and Station B. It is a long-term and organized activity, which makes the case more complicated and difficult to solve.

The Security Bureau stated that in order to raise the public's awareness of protecting children and young people and enhance their self-protection ability, the Police have been working closely with various government departments, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders.

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer also regularly organizes various cybersecurity promotion activities, and establishes a one-stop information security portal, the Information Safety Network, to provide advice on coping with cyberbullying.

The information safety net contains reference materials to teach children and young people how to use computers properly and online conduct, as well as how to avoid cyberbullying and how to deal with it.

The website also provides parents and teachers with practical tips on how to protect children from online threats.

Still, protecting citizens from bullying is a top priority for most governments.

If the government's safety net and Hong Kong's existing laws already protect minors from online threats, shouldn't the tragedy of "Nana" happen?

If different policy bureaus and departments have taken different measures according to their professional fields to protect minors from online threats, should the tragedy of "Nana" not happen?

Cross-border cyberbullying is an intractable problem. Bullies have a lot of space for cyberbullying, and they also have the ability to generate, manipulate, and disseminate content anonymously and continuously.

However, the epidemic, technology and network development make it impossible for parents, guardians, teachers and schools to protect minors from online threats every minute and every second.

And who can guarantee that their students and their children will not become victims of cross-border cyber violence?

The statue of Lady Justice stands above the Court of Final Appeal after the opening ceremony of Hong Kong's legal year on January 24, 2022.

(Getty Images)

The "Magic Girl Code" that "Nana" once wrote with colored ink pen strokes is still posted on her desk in front of her home - "Take care of the people around you, help others more; learn to be confident and love yourself".

Cyberbullying made "Nana" write in his suicide note:

"It is because I care too much about other people's eyes and compare myself with others so much that I can't breathe. I really want to face life like a normal person, and I hate myself like this. Please forgive me for doing this. For such extreme behavior, I really love you guys, but I can't love myself. I'm so sad until the end."

And until the end, in a society without specific criminal offenses against cyberbullying, what can the government do for "Nana" to make society aware of the evil of cyberbullying and protect minors from cyber threats.

How can I seek justice if my child is being bullied online?

Some mainland netizens hope that the law will give justice to "Nana":

+2

An 18-year-old girl in Tin Shui Wai committed suicide | Jiang Yuhuan: Legislation to ban Internet violence, mother hope that China-Hong Kong mutual legal assistance is fair

Mother goes online to find the murderer: believe the law is fair, the 18-year-old girl from Tin Shui Wai committed suicide by live broadcast, but was bullied by the mainland Internet group "toilet girl".