Hong Kong Watch submits report to United Nations on protection of human rights defenders in the digital age
Today, Hong Kong Watch made a submission to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in response to the call for input on ‘Protecting human rights defenders in the digital age.’
Following the 58th Human Rights Council session in March 2025, the office of Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was requested to consult with civil society, human rights defenders, and the private sector to assess the risks digital technologies pose to human rights defenders and identify best practices to address these risks across different regions.
The submission highlights the increasingly restrictive digital environment in Hong Kong, where legal and institutional measures, including the Hong Kong National Security Law and Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (commonly referred to as ‘Article 23’ legislation), curtail freedom of expression, association, and privacy online. These laws allow authorities to interpret peaceful digital expression as a threat to national security, extend their reach beyond Hong Kong’s borders, and compel private companies to provide user data, remove content, or assist investigations.
Hong Kong Watch’s submission extensively refers to our report, Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact, and documents the chilling effect these measures have had on human rights defenders (HRDs), journalists, and civil society actors, both locally and abroad. The submission provides evidence of self-censorship, disbanded civil society groups, and restricted media outlets, including British citizen Jimmy Lai’s forcibly shut-down newspaper, Apple Daily.
It also details transnational repression, exemplified by arrests of individuals for online activity conducted overseas, harassment campaigns targeting activists in exile, and the use of digital attacks such as doxxing, deepfake dissemination, and online threats with tangible offline consequences. This includes the cases of Mika Yuen Ching‑ting, who was sentenced to two months in prison for social media posts she made while studying in Japan, and UK-based HRD Carmen Lau, who was targeted with a harassment campaign that involved sexually explicit deepfake images and fabricated letters sent to addresses in the UK and Australia.
The submission emphasises that technology-facilitated attacks against HRDs in Hong Kong are not isolated online incidents, but part of a broader pattern of digital and physical intimidation designed to undermine civic participation, suppress dissent, and restrict international advocacy.
Please click here to read the full submission.
Megan Khoo, Policy Director at Hong Kong Watch, said:
“Hong Kong Watch urges the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and member states to recognise these trends as part of a systematic erosion of digital rights and to develop concrete recommendations for protecting human rights defenders in the digital age, ensuring accountability for online harassment, and safeguarding freedom of expression, association, and privacy in digital spaces in Hong Kong and around the world.”
香港監察向聯合國提交意見書 倡在數碼時代保護人權捍衛者
香港監察今日向聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處提交意見書，回應有關「在數碼時代保護人權捍衛者」的意見徵詢呼籲。
意見書重點指出香港日漸收緊的數碼環境，當中《國家安全法》和《維護國家安全條例》（俗稱「23條」）等法律及體制措施限制網絡言論自由、結社自由和私隱。這些法例容許當局將在數碼空間和平表達意見解讀為國家安全威脅，將權力延伸至香港以外地區，並強迫私人公司提供用戶資料、刪除內容或協助調查。
香港監察意見書大量引用我們早前發表的報告《隱形衰退：香港數碼權利侵害行為及其影響》（Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact），並記錄這些措施對香港境內外人權捍衛者、記者和公民社會人士造成的寒蟬效應。意見書載有自我審查、已解散民間社會團體和受約束傳媒的證據，包括英國公民黎智英被迫停止營運的報紙《蘋果日報》。
意見書亦詳細列出跨國鎮壓事件，例如因海外網上活動拘捕多人、騷擾流亡社運人士，以及利用「起底」、深偽傳播等數碼攻擊手段和會造成實質離線後果的網絡威脅。當中包括袁靜婷的個案，她因在日本留學期間發布社交媒體帖文而被判處兩個月監禁；以及居英人權捍衛者劉珈汶的個案，她是牽涉向英國和澳洲地址寄送深偽祼露照片和偽造信件騷擾行動的對象之一。
意見書強調，利用科技攻擊香港人權捍衛者並非個別的網絡事件，而是更廣泛數碼及實體恐嚇模式的一環，旨在破壞公民參與、壓制異議，並約束國際倡議。
請按此處閱覽意見書全文。
香港監察政策總監Megan Khoo表示：
「香港監察促請聯合國人權事務高級專員和成員國承認這些趨勢是系統式侵害數碼權利的一環，並制訂在數碼時代保護人權捍衛者的具體建議，確保對網絡騷擾行為問責，並保障香港以至世界各地數碼空間的言論自由、結社自由和私隱。」
Photo: Mathias Reding on Unsplash