(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today the interim injunction order granted by the High Court to restrain doxxing and harassment against police officers and their families is a legal means to address the problem.

Speaking to the media ahead of an Executive Council meeting, Mrs Lam noted that the past four months have seen a large amount of doxxing on social media.

“We have seen and experienced a large amount of doxxing on social media, of course affecting many people, especially people holding a view which is in support of the Government or in support of Police, then the others who hold a different opinion will resort to this sort of intimidation. There is no dispute about that.

“And that is why I noticed that in one of his interviews, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data described this social media intimidation or doxxing as being a ‘weapon’ now being deployed, which is very worrying.”

The Government will have to revisit the privacy legislation to see how to tackle this emerging threat, Mrs Lam said.

She added that Police are the main target of doxxing.

“I gather that over 2,000 policemen and maybe their families have been put through that sort of intimidation, so for the Secretary for Justice and the Commissioner of Police to take that route of applying for an interim injunction is understandable.

“Because we do not have the necessary, effective legislation to tackle that issue, so an interim injunction is one of the legal means to address the problem.”