香港將根據國家安全法審查電影

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Hong Kong to censor films under national security law

Fri., June 11, 2021, 3:23 a.m.

By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government on Friday enacted new guidelines that allow authorities to censor films on the basis of safeguarding national security, escalating concerns over freedoms in the former British colony.

The government said the changes that give the film censor authority to ban films perceived as promoting or glorifying acts or activities that could endanger national security take effect from Friday.

The Film Censorship Authority should stay "vigilant to the portrayal, depiction or treatment of any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security", the government said in a statement.

“Any content of a film which is objectively and reasonably capable of being perceived as endorsing, supporting, promoting, such act or activity" will be censored, according to the guideline.

Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June that punishes what authorities broadly define as secession, sedition and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail, following a year of sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations.

Western governments and international human rights groups have expressed concern the security law will crush freedoms in Hong Kong.

A filmmaker surnamed Tang said the amendment would legitimize a crackdown on protest-related films and create a chilling effect on the movie industry.

"Movies on social issues will be banned. It will silence the filmmakers,” Tang said.

Translation

香港（路透社）——香港政府週五頒布了新的指導方針，允許當局在維護國家安全的基礎上審查電影，這加劇了人們對前英國殖民地自由的擔憂。

政府表示，賦予電影審查員權力去禁止被視為宣傳或美化可能危害國家安全的行為或活動的電影的變化將於週五生效。

政府在一份聲明中表示，電影審查裁處應“對任何可能構成危害國家安全罪行的行為或活動的描繪、描述或處理保持警惕”。

根據該指南，“任何客觀且合理地能夠被視為贊同、支持、促進此類行為或活動的電影內容”都將受到審查。

北京在 6 月對香港實施了一項國家安全法，懲罰當局廣義上定義為分裂國家、煽動叛亂和與外國勢力勾結的行為，最高可判處終身監禁。在此前一年, 香港時有會發生帶暴力的民主示威遊行。

西方政府和國際人權組織都表示擔心國安法會扼殺香港的自由。

一位姓唐的電影製片人表示，該修正案將合法地打擊與抗議相關的電影，並對電影業產生寒蟬效應。

唐說:“關於社會問題的電影將被禁止。這將使電影製作人不再發聲”。

So, Hong Kong authorities will censor films on the basis of safeguarding national security. The freedom of expression in Hong Kong is shrinking when compared with the days before 1997.