Hong Kong
HKSAR v. Chung Man
Decision Date: September 16, 2024
The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Chung Man to 10 months imprisonment for multiple charges of sedition, with portions of sentences for Counts 2 and 3 to be served consecutively to Count 1. The case involved incidents between March and April 2024 where the Defendant wrote various political slogans including “Hong Kong Independence,” “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times,” and derogatory comments about police officers on upper deck bus seats. After being identified through CCTV footage and caught discarding a double-ended pen used for writing the slogans, Chung Man was arrested and admitted to writing the messages, claiming he did so to exercise freedom of speech and conduct a “social experiment.” The Court rejected Chung Man’s defense of impulsive action, citing evidence of premeditation through his consistent carrying of writing tools. The Court emphasized the increased gravity of sedition offenses following the March 2024 legislative changes. While acknowledging the Defendant’s guilty plea as a mitigating factor reducing the initial 12-month sentence, the Court maintained that the repeated nature of the offenses and their impact on national security warranted consecutive sentencing.

HKSAR v. Chuo Kai 
Decision Date: September 16, 2024
The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court found Chuo Kai, the Defendant, guilty of sedition based on his guilty plea. The case involved Chuo Kai, who was arrested on June 12, 2024, for wearing a shirt with pro-democracy slogans and a mask with the acronym ‘FDNOL’, symbolizing political demands. The Court considered Chuo Kai’s actions as premeditated, noting that he deliberately chose to wear the inflammatory attire on a date significant to demonstrators. The court emphasized the seriousness of the offense, stating that Chuo Kai’s actions posed a risk to social order by potentially reviving unrest and undermining the governance of Hong Kong. The Court rejected Chuo Kai’s claim of acting spontaneously and stressed the preventive nature of the law in discouraging actions that could incite public unrest and endanger national security.

HKSAR v. Chu Kai Pong
Decision Date: January 4, 2024
The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Chu Kai Pong to 14 months in prison for making a statement with seditious intent under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. The case concerns Chu who was found wearing T-shirts and carrying items with slogans like “Free Hong Kong” and “Restore Hong Kong: Revolution Now” at Hong Kong International Airport, on his way to Taiwan. The Court emphasized the seriousness of his actions, which were seen as advocating for Hong Kong’s secession from China. While making references to previous cases on sedition and national security, the Court rejected defense arguments that minimized the offense’s gravity, noting that such actions could incite social chaos. 

Brazil
The Case of the X Ban in Brazil
Decision Date: August 30, 2024
The Federal Supreme Court (STF) of Brazil suspended the operations of the social network X (formerly Twitter) in the country due to non-compliance with its judicial orders, emphasizing the importance of sovereignty, democracy, and adherence to Brazilian laws. The Court reinforced that all companies and entities, domestic or foreign, are required to respect Brazilian laws and judicial decisions, adding that freedom of expression is not absolute and can be limited when necessary to protect democracy and public safety. The STF ruled that X must fulfill all rulings, pay fines amounting to nearly 30 million reais, and appoint a legal representative before resuming activities. Following this decision, X complied with the orders of the Brazilian Supreme Court by blocking user accounts associated with illegal activities and appointing a legal representative in Brazil. A subsequent ruling from the STF made it explicit that X must still settle unpaid fines before regaining operational status in Brazil which it did on October 9, 2024.

● Upcoming Event – Training on Counter-Speech in Spanish. The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University will host a training on counter-speech – responding to harmful or offensive speech by challenging it and amplifying alternative viewpoints – in Spanish. Experts will share insights on the meaning and use of counter-speech, and participants will learn about the manual for using counter-narratives to confront online hate speech and The Freequalizer app, which uses AI to assist activists. Participants will receive a certificate. This training is free, with limited spots available. October 29, 2024. 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM ET. Register here.

● Upcoming Event – Webinar on Borderless Repression: Transnational Threats to Journalists in the European Landscape. Join Media Defence and Free Press Unlimited at this upcoming webinar on transnational repression targeting exiled journalists in Europe. The webinar, a 60-minute session, will welcome journalists and legal experts, who will discuss the most urgent cases and strategies for defending press freedom against cross-border threats. October 31, 2024. 8:00 AM ET / 1:00 PM BST / 2:00 PM CEST. Fill out this Zoom form to attend. 

● Lebanon: How to Stay Informed and Connected During a Communications Crisis? SMEX, a digital rights advocacy organization based in Lebanon, has been issuing weekly reports on the state of digital rights in the country and providing online safety guidance during the conflict. This go-to resource, prepared by SMEX, underscores, “In times of war, digital security becomes even more critical as cyber threats and disinformation campaigns intensify.” The resource explains disinformation, strategies to verify online news, and critical steps to ensure the digital safety of individuals and their devices. SMEX’s Digital Safety Helpdesk offers rapid, free technical support for human rights activists, marginalized groups, and media workers facing online threats: doxxing, online harassment, hate speech, cyberbullying, surveillance, and gender-based attacks, among others.  

“We Can’t Write the Truth Anymore”: Academic Freedom in Hong Kong Under the National Security Law. Prepared by the Human Rights Watch and Hong Kong Democracy Council, this 80-page study traces the drastic decline in academic freedom and freedom of expression in eight publicly funded universities in Hong Kong since the imposition of the National Security Law in June 2020. “Hong Kong universities are microcosms of Hong Kong society,” the report argues, drawing from interviews with scholars and students. “As people who used to live in a free society are suddenly thrust into authoritarianism, they grapple with how to respond, and how to justify their actions.” Following the review of relevant international and Hong Kong laws, the report examines the “before” – the state of academic freedom between 2010 and 2020 – and the “after” – intensifying restrictions on the rights to free speech, association, and peaceful assembly; the climate of censorship and self-censorship; examples of harassment of academics. The report concludes with recommendations. 

Platform Liability, Hate Speech, and the Fundamental Right to Free Speech, by Natalie Alkiviadou. In this article, published by Information & Communications Technology Law, Natalie Alkiviadou, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Free Speech project at Vanderbilt University, analyzes stringent platform liability legislation and its impact on freedom of expression within the scope of hate speech. The article references data from a recent report, “Preventing ‘Torrents of Hate’ or Stifling Free Expression Online? An Assessment of Social Media Content Removal in France, Germany, and Sweden,” which points to the trend of over-removal of legally permissible content.