Assessing the Hong Kong National Security Law: What does it mean for civil society?

This article was republished from Coconet.

Since its passing in June 30 this year, the controversial Hong Kong National Security Law has been criticised for its weaponisation against critics of the state and curtailment of freedom of speech. Amnesty International writes that the law is “dangerously vague and broad“, and has been abused since Day One. Critics have also denounced the law as an attack on freedom of expression, particularly in light of the arrests of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai – whose trial began on August 20 – and pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow.

The law has also been likened to the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Law, as both laws “are not protecting the people from ‘separatists or ‘terrorists’ but merely the state’s power to be judge, jury, and executioner over those who pose a danger to financial and political stability”.

For more information on the National Security Law, Shih-Shiuan Kao and Min Hsuan Wu from Doublethink Lab have created a presentation that summarises the law and details from a legal perspective how the law affects not only Hong Kong nationals but also individuals and civil society organisations in the region who may work with or travel to Hong Kong in the foreseeable future.

This presentation is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please attribute the authors when sharing this presentation.

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