“Sensitive Books in Hong Kong Public Libraries: Balancing Freedom of Information and Government Responsibility”
2023-05-17 10:34:58
The recent removal of a batch of sensitive books from the government public library has aroused some discussion among the public. This reminds me of a discussion on a forum more than ten years ago. It was a forum about the media. At that time, two senior media professionals were present. “Media Person A” is a liberal, while “Media Person B” is an establishment faction.
The two discussed the very popular leisure magazine “Yiben Bianli” under Next Media at that time. Someone asked at the scene, “Yiben Bianli” has many cover stories with pornographic content. Should it be banned from sale or need to be wrapped in plastic bags? can be sold.
“Media person A” is completely wrong about this, thinking that Hong Kong has freedom of speech, whether to buy or not to read these publications is a personal choice, and there should be no restrictions, and the so-called “teaching bad people” is also nonsense. “Media Person B” responded, “I know you have two daughters, why don’t I sponsor you to buy “One Book of Convenience” for your daughter to read for half a year and see how it works?”
“Media Person A” changed his expression greatly after hearing the words, and immediately turned around and said, “Don’t, don’t, don’t do this! I won’t let my daughter read these publications.” My first reaction at the time was that many people spoke well He is righteous and pursues political correctness, but when it comes to himself or his family, he will think twice calmly.
After a batch of sensitive books in the public library were removed from the shelves, Chief Executive Lee Ka-chao said on Tuesday whether this action would harm the freedom of information in Hong Kong, saying that related books can still be bought in private bookstores, but if the books are not suitable for public borrowing, public library Libraries have the responsibility to perform their duties. The principle is that books should not violate Hong Kong laws, nor should they spread information that is unfavorable to Hong Kong. He emphasized that the borrowing of books by public libraries should be in the interests of Hong Kong, and he also had confidence in the professionalism of the LCSD staff.
Whether public libraries can borrow certain books and whether these books can be sold in the market are two different issues. There is freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and there is no censorship system such as applying for a serial number in advance for book publishing. However, if the published books and periodicals violate the law, the publisher and even the printer have to bear the consequences. From the Obscenity and Indecent Ordinance, to contempt of court, to sedition, to crimes under the Hong Kong National Security Law, publishers have to consider whether their books are legal.
As for whether public libraries allow certain books to be borrowed by the public, this involves the Government’s attitude. The key is whether it is in the public interest. If the government believes that certain books are not beneficial to readers, it is very reasonable for public libraries not to purchase or remove the relevant books from the shelves. Conversely, for books displayed in public libraries, the publisher has a good reason to say that his books have been approved by the government and are suitable for reading by people of different ages.
In the past, public libraries were quite lenient in purchasing and putting books on shelves. Even after the “Hong Kong National Security Law” came into effect in 2020, the degree of lenient has not changed. The National Audit Office recently published a report criticizing public libraries for being too slow in removing books suspected of violating the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which has aroused some concern. This time, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department quickly removed some sensitive books from the shelves. Some people said that this is not the usual practice of government agencies. To remove books from the shelves, a committee needs to be consulted, and it can take a year or two to make a decision at any time. I asked rhetorically: If there is a book that teaches people how to make bombs, and the public library buys it by mistake and puts it on the shelves, will it have to wait a year or two before it can be taken off the shelves? The government definitely has various procedures to quickly deal with problematic books. It just sat idly by in the past, but now it is determined to act quickly.
Books that are not on the shelves of public libraries are like telling everyone that these books are not recommended by the government.
