The Web site of UK-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch cannot be accessed through some networks in the territory, stoking concerns of Internet censorship, the organization said.
Hong Kong Watch chief executive officer Benedict Rogers said he was worried that the issue could be part of a crackdown under the territory’s National Security Law, which empowers the police to request service providers to “delete” information or “provide assistance” on national security cases.
Beijing imposed the sweeping security law on Hong Kong in 2020. It punishes what authorities broadly define as subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with sentences of up to life in jail.
“If this is not just a technical malfunction, and Hong Kongers will no longer be able to access our Web site because of the National Security Law, then this is a serious blow to Internet freedom,” Rogers said in a statement late on Monday.
The Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several attempts by journalists in Hong Kong to access the hongkongwatch.org Web site were unsuccessful, without the use of a virtual private network.
Internet service providers PCCW, HKBN and China Mobile (HK) did not respond to requests for comment.
Hong Kong Watch said in a statement that its Web site could not be accessed on those three networks, among others.
Article 9 of the National Security Law states that the Hong Kong government shall take necessary measures to bolster regulation of the Internet “over matters concerning national security.”
Last year, 8964museum.com, a Web site commemorating the protesters who were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, also became inaccessible in Hong Kong.
An attempt by Reuters in Hong Kong to access that site yesterday was unsuccessful.
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