Passing of Article 23 draws mixed reactions from HK netizens

The unanimous passage of Hong Kong's domestic national security law, the "Safeguarding national security bill" (維護國家安全條例草案), has drawn mixed reactions from netizens in Hong Kong. 

Yesterday, the bill passed unanimously during a special session at the Legislative Council, with all 89 votes in favour. The bill will come into effect this Saturday (23 March 2024), said chief executive John Lee after the third reading was passed. The bill was first proposed on 8 March, meaning the authorities only used 12 days to pass the second and third reading of the bill. 

According to Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the central people's government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organisations or bodies from conducting political activities in the region, and to prohibit political organisations or bodies of the region from establishing ties with foreign political organisations or bodies.

Lee said that it was a historic moment for Hong Kong, which Hong Kong had been waiting for 26 years, eight months and 19 days. “It is a proud moment where Hong Kong collectively writes a glorious history,” he added. 

The local real estate developers and the business community have expressed their welcome for the passage of the Article 23 legislation bill. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce said passing the legislation will allow the government to fulfil its constitutional responsibility by safeguarding domestic national security in Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” principle. 

Meanwhile, the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong said the implementation of Article 23 provides greater protection for Hong Kong's business environment and contributes to further enhancing and solidifying the city's position as an international financial centre.

Don't miss: 'No intention to ban social media under Article 23', says HK official

While authorities and business associations are supporting the law, the passage of Article 23 has in fact drawn mixed reactions among Hong Kong netizens. Media intelligence firm CARMA saw over 5k mentions of the bill across various social media platforms in Hong Kong over the past 30 days. Of these mentions, approximately 30.2% conveyed a negative sentiment, while around 10% expressed a positive sentiment.

“Positive sentiments primarily came from politicians who voiced their support for the passing of the Article 23 security bill, advocating for a more stable and socially unrest-free Hong Kong,” said CARMA's HK general manager Charles Cheung.

Conversely, negative sentiments emerged from discussions among netizens who believed the bill was swiftly passed due to the absence of opposition, Cheung added. 

“We also noticed a prevalent sense of fear was evident among netizens, with many expressing concerns about inadvertently violating the law. They called for clearer guidelines and real-life examples of cases to better understand its implications,” Cheung said.

Cheung added that there has also been a resurgence of discussions among netizens about potential migration overseas due to their fears surrounding the law.

Meanwhile, social monitoring firm Meltwater also saw over 7.18k mentions over the past two days, with 2.46k generated from the US, followed by Hong Kong and Australia. Among the sentiments, 73.9% were neutral, 22.4% were negative and 3.5% were positive.

Keywords associated with the bill are "national security", "legislation", "rule of law", "democracy", "protests", "human rights" and "insurrection".

Back in December last year, John Lee said on a seminar for Constitution Day that, the government was fully committed and actively preparing to complete local legislation of Article 23 by 2024. 

While the public consultation period on Basic Law Article 23 legislation ended on 28 Febriary 2024, the government said it had received a total of 13,147 submissions, with 98.64% of the participants showed their support for the legislation and made positive comments.

Meanwhile, there are 93 submissions, representing 0.71% of the total, which oppose the legislative proposals, and amongst them, over 10 are overseas anti-China organisations or abscondees.

On the other hand, the government has condemned news reports from news outlets twice regarding the Article 23 legislation. On 13 March, the government said The Times’ news report regarding Article 23 legislation is “extremely misleading” after the news publication released an article titled “Hongkongers to be jailed for keeping old newspapers”. 

Furthermore, a government spokesperson expressed strong dissatisfaction and condemnation regarding Bloomberg's reporting on 6 March 2024, which has resulted in misunderstandings and panic concerning the legislative proposals of Article 23.

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world! 

Related articles:

HK govt slams The Times over 'misleading' report on Article 23
HK govt slams BBC over 'smearing' national security law
'No intention to ban social media under Article 23', says HK official