New police commissioner says fake news spread undermines HK police reputation

The newly appointed commissioner of police Raymond Siu Chak-yee has said fake news spread has undermined Hong Kong Police Force's reputation.

He said on Saturday that he will be backing any law that holds netizens accountable for spreading misinformation, and believed that the police won supporters after a series of anti-government protests in 2019. During the protests, the police had been accusing of using excessive force with protesters to which Siu commented that the situation is not as bad as people think.

When it comes to hostility towards the police, Siu said the reasons for the phenomenon were the numerous fake news and reports circulating. He elaborated that to improve the situation, the police would immediately clarify through its communications when there was a fake news. Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam previously said that the government was working on a law to tackle fake news. 

Meanwhile, according to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, it was revealed that globally consumers are not sure where or who to turn to for reliable information. A majority of respondents believe that government leaders (57%), business leaders (56%), and journalists (59%) are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false. The global infodemic has driven trust in all news sources to record lows with social media (35%) and owned media (41%) the least trusted. Meanwhile, traditional media (53%) saw the largest drop in trust at eight points.

“This is the era of information bankruptcy,” said Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman said. “We’ve been lied to by those in charge, and media sources are seen as politicized and bias. The result is a lack of quality information and increased divisiveness,” he said. This year’s report reveals that the biggest opportunity to earn business trust is guarding information quality. Around 53% of respondents believe corporations need to fill the information void when the news media is absent.

Related articles
HK IT professionals preserve Apple Daily content on blockchain platforms
Apple Daily sister brand Next Magazine with 100k subscribers ceases ops