Data clarity called for after welcome Choy ruling by top Hong Kong court
- Decision over Hong Kong journalist should lead to a better balance being struck between the right to access information and protection of privacy
The prosecution of journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling for making false statements while accessing information on the government’s vehicle registry raised valid concerns about legal risks faced by the media when conducting investigations.
Choy, a freelance producer, was fined HK$6,000 (US$770) after being convicted by a magistrate. She had made the database search while working on an RTHK documentary about a mob attack on protesters and commuters in Yuen Long during civil unrest in 2019.
The journalist’s convictions were quashed by the Court of Final Appeal yesterday. The unanimous ruling is welcome. It should lead to a better balance being struck between the right to access information and the protection of privacy.
Choy obtained details of a vehicle owner. The database required her to state the purpose of her application by choosing one of three options from a drop-down menu. None of the options mentioned journalism. So she chose “other traffic and transport related matters”.
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She was convicted on the basis that this was a false statement. But the top court found the option Choy selected was a broad “catchall” category that included genuine investigative journalism. Her statement was, therefore, not false.
The ruling will go some way towards easing the concerns of journalists who had routinely made similar searches. But the government should now review the application process for accessing information on this and other databases.
There is a need for greater clarity. Applicants, the court found, can be required by the commissioner of transport to state the purpose of their search, to guard against abuse. The option chosen by Choy is very broad. It would make sense to provide better-defined categories.
But any review by the government should note the importance placed by the court on the right to free expression and free press, protected by law. Journalists conducting research in the public interest must be given a clear pathway to access the information.
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The same principles should apply to other databases. The rules for use of the Companies Registry and Land Registry have been tightened in recent years. Journalists often need to access such information as part of their reporting duties.
This carefully considered 34-page judgment attached importance to human rights and rejected arguments put forward by government lawyers. The ruling highlights the independence of the city’s judiciary at a time when critics overseas have called it into question.
Rules relating to government databases must strike a delicate balance, protecting privacy and guarding against abuse. But access must be granted to journalists and others with a legitimate reason for seeking the information.
