National security law: documentary on Hong Kong’s 2019 protests getting screen time overseas, but is it illegal to download or watch it in city?
- Revolution of Our Times director thrilled by global release of film that was screened at Cannes festival and won best documentary at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards
- Legal experts mixed over actions that could be in breach of law if locals viewed the show in city
Legal experts are divided on whether watching or downloading a film about the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong, which has been available online since Wednesday, could violate the city’s national security law.
The team behind the documentary, Revolution of Our Times, declined to respond to Post inquiries on the download trends for the film on Wednesday, the first day of its global screening on American streaming platform Vimeo.
The title of the 2½-hour documentary is part of the signature protest rallying slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”, which is deemed as a violation of the national security law by authorities.
Asked whether the documentary team or people who downloaded the film would violate the national security law, Hong Kong police’s public relations branch said it did not comment on individual cases but added the force would act on the basis of actual circumstances and according to the law.
The film – priced at US$11.29 for rent and US$18.89 for purchase – has been available worldwide since Wednesday on Vimeo, which is banned in mainland China, but not Hong Kong. The force did not comment on whether it had requested Vimeo to take down the video.
Even if the film risked breaching the city’s laws, legal scholar Simon Young Ngai-man from the University of Hong Kong said the national security legislation would require a person to be “knowingly and intentionally assisting or encouraging” an offence.
“Mere attendance would probably not be enough,” he said, but warned people might be targeted by a public order law or the film censorship regulations.
