Time’s Up for TikTok in Hong Kong
Tuesday 21st July 2020
TikTok, the now household-name short video entertainment platform, has been withdrawn from the Hong Kong market with immediate effect. This is due to the controversial new security law that has since been implemented on 30 June 2020 at 23:00 local time. This was passed by Beijing without releasing a draft for local consultation or running it through the region’s legislature (Financial Times, 2020).
The UK and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, in preparation for the handover in 1997. This was in order to grant fundamental freedoms, autonomy, an independent judiciary and a limited democracy for the region until 2047.
However, after growing tensions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China due to the mainland increasing its hold over the region, and consequent protests and pro-democracy movements, China has now used its authoritative power to finally push through a new security law.
China believes this new security law will bring stability to the region, especially after years of pro-democracy action, however, many Hong Kongers see this as a breach to the Joint Declaration and the freedoms that they were granted.
The details of the new security law were kept under wraps until it was finally passed through. It entails the criminalisation of any act of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces (BBC, 2020). These now recognised crimes, which inherently subdue some freedoms of speech in the semi-autonomous region, can result in a maximum sentence of life in prison as well as suspect individuals being wire-tapped and put under surveillance (BBC, 2020). Furthermore, it has allowed China increased power over the region due to cases having the ability to be tried in mainland China, some trials being heard behind closed doors, a new security office being established and Beijing officials supervising this new law.
Despite Hong Kong being granted certain freedoms from China in the 50-year period after the handover, China ultimately has the final say over how the new security law is interpreted. Whilst Hong Kong operates under the ‘one country, two systems’ structure, which includes Hong Kong’s own independent judiciary separate to that of China, Beijing now has the authority to override any conflicts with Hong Kong law, which consequently threatens the Hong Kong judicial system whereby it was granted freedoms.
Furthermore, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, is now able to have some form of authority over the judicial system whereby she is able to appoint judges to hear national security cases. Naturally, this has sparked further concern over the judicial autonomy of Hong Kong.
Similar to China, many Hong Kongers would now need to use a virtual private network (VPN) in order to access TikTok or some other forms of social media. Even so, many now have no access at all.
In reaction to this new security law, the traction gained by pro-democracy movements in recent years, such as Demosisto, has now ground to a halt. Pro-democracy groups have now disbanded, with the leaders of Demosisto - Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow - resigning from their posts and disbanding the group the morning of 30 June 2020 due to the dangers associated with the new security law.
With freedom of speech now being limited, it became clear for TikTok to exit the Hong Kong market due to its associations with China and the app claiming it has never shared data with Beijing. The new security law would have undermined this claim had TikTok continued its presence in the region. Furthermore, in light of this new law, tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter have stopped processing data user requests from Hong Kong police.
