Welcome to Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL)! In this newsletter, we will officially launch our first research report on the state of Hong Kong’s information freedom, and announce a RIL-supported exhibition in London, UK.
Report Launch: Safeguarding Freedom of Information in Hong Kong
Resilience Innovation Lab is pleased to launch a new report,”Safeguarding Freedom of Information in Hong Kong: Challenges, Opportunities and Remedies”. Both Chinese and English versions of the full report are now available online.
Download the Chinese version of the report here.
Download the English version of the report here.
Freedom of information is a cornerstone of democracy and good governance, enabling transparency, accountability, and public trust. In Hong Kong, information access has been increasingly restricted, particularly following the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) in 2020 and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in 2024. These measures have significantly curtailed press freedom, civil society oversight, and public access to government data, diverging from international human rights standards.
The increasing criminalisation of information access in Hong Kong has led to weakened transparency, press suppression, and reduced corporate data availability. The impact extends beyond journalists to businesses, researchers, and international organizations. Legal reforms, stronger civil society engagement, and international accountability measures are necessary to restore freedom of information and Hong Kong’s reputation as a global financial and information hub.
Against this background, this report explores the current state of information freedom in Hong Kong, the challenges faced, and the path forward in ensuring an open and informed society. Key findings and remedies are provided as follows:
Key Findings
• Legal and institutional barriers: Hong Kong lacks both an Archive Law and a Freedom of Information Law, leading to government opacity and arbitrary record destruction.
• Press freedom erosion: Journalists face censorship, visa denials, harassment, and arrests, resulting in self-censorship and media retreat from Hong Kong.
• State control over information supply chain: The government has increased public data removal, rejected information requests, and imposed court injunctions to suppress access to critical information.
• Legal repercussions for information access: Ambiguous definitions of “state secrets” and “espionage” in the SNSO expose researchers, businesses, and journalists to potential prosecution.
• International business and investment risks: Restrictions on financial data transparency and extraterritorial application of security laws undermine Hong Kong’s attractiveness as an international business hub.
Remedies
For the Legal System:
• Enact Archive Law and Freedom of Information Law in compliance with ICCPR and international best practices.
• Reverse court decisions that restrict free access to information, including the ban on the protest song Glory to Hong Kong.
For the Executive Government:
• Cease enforcing censorship policies, information removals, and national security laws that restrict information access.
• Implement UN recommendations to repeal or amend the HKNSL and SNSO to align with international human rights obligations.
• Protect journalists, researchers, and civil society members from harassment and legal intimidation.
• Improve existing legal and regulatory frameworks in light of latest UN standards and principles on access to information
For Business Corporations, Chambers & Investors:
• Advocate for clear definitions of state secrets to ensure market transparency.
• Strengthen corporate policies against compliance with excessive government data requests.
• Maintain transparency reports on information requests from the Hong Kong authorities.
For Civil Society:
• Strengthen networks of support for Hong-Kong-based journalists and researchers.
• Utilize censorship-resistant technologies (e.g., blockchain, IPFS) to safeguard public data and digital archives.
• Provide adequate resources and trainings to groups that sustain and contribute to the information supply chain in Hong Kong
For International Organizations:
• UN agencies and human rights bodies should monitor and report on the state of information access in Hong Kong.
• Strengthen international diplomatic pressure on China and Hong Kong to uphold information integrity and human rights.
Freedom of Information in China
Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL) is pleased to launch its inaugural research report, titled An Unbreakable Wall? Challenges and Opportunities of Defending Freedom of Information in China. The full report is now available online.
Over the past decade, China’s information environment has deteriorated markedly due to increasing state control over digital communications. Notable escalations in censorship and surveillance have coincided with key events, including the 2019 Hong Kong protests, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the White Paper Movement in 2022. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systematically tightened its grip on cyberspace, driven by concerns over foreign ideological influence and the safeguarding of domestic regime security.
Businesses—particularly multinational corporations—face growing risks as China’s digital environment becomes ever more restrictive. Due diligence operations have been significantly hindered, with organisations subjected to raids, exit bans, informal government warnings, and limited access to essential corporate information databases. Civil society organisations, journalists, and academics face similar constraints, including routine surveillance, censorship, and major operational disruptions. Academic freedom, journalistic independence, and civic activism continue to be challenged by ambiguous legal frameworks, intensified surveillance, and direct threats from state authorities.
This report provides a comprehensive account of China’s information environment under the rule of the CCP, with a particular focus on developments since President Xi Jinping’s ascent to power. It offers a critical analysis of how systematic, state-led efforts to control and manipulate information are affecting various sectors of society—including the information supply chain, public access to information, and the operating conditions of businesses (especially within the due diligence sector), civil society groups, journalists, and academics engaged with China. Drawing on evidence-based insights from multiple perspectives, the report seeks to inform a broad range of stakeholders—from policymakers and international businesses to civil society organisations and academic institutions—and encourages collaborative efforts to address the challenges posed by China’s information landscape and its impact on global information networks.
Resilience Innovation Lab gratefully acknowledges the invaluable contributions of several anonymous individuals and interviewees who chose not to reveal their identities for safety and security reasons. Their courage and insight have greatly enriched the depth and authenticity of this report. We sincerely hope that, in the near future, contributors and researchers will no longer feel compelled to hide their identities, but will instead be free to participate openly in the pursuit of a free, transparent, and open society in China.
Download the full report here.
Event Invitation: “Ways of Remembering”
Resilience Innovation Lab is pleased to collaborate with Hong Kong Action Archives for the following exhibition event:
This exhibition brings together artefacts, personal stories, and collective memories from Hong Kong’s social movements over the past decades. Alongside these, we’re shedding light on projects that employ archiving as a means of resistance.
More than just a look at Hong Kong, this exhibition is an invitation for anyone interested in the act of collecting, remembering, and the ways in which history is written. It’s for anyone who wants to explore how our voices — and the voices of our communities — are shaped by the currents of time and information.
𝙁𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃
𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶
✧ *:･ﾟ記憶對視 *:･ﾟ✧
● 𝟷𝟽 → 𝟸𝟼 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
● 𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝟺𝟶𝟸 𝙲𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚝,
𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗 𝙴𝟸 𝟾𝙷𝙳, 𝚄𝙺
𝙻𝚎𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝
𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢,
𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚖,
𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙺𝚘𝚗𝚐.
Presented and curated by Hong Kong Action Archives, in collaboration with Amnesty International, Resilience Innovation Lab, and The Rights Practice.
#WaysOfRemembering2025
#HKAAinUK
Useful Resources
Judicial Records in Hong Kong has made every effort to collect court decisions related to the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement for educational and research purposes. These records are still accessible on the website of Hong Kong’s judiciary, but their continued availability to the public in the future remains uncertain. All judicial records collected and displayed here are secured and maintained using blockchain technology, through which they are decentralized and immutable, ensuring transparency, tamper-resistance, and trust in the integrity of the data. Our goal is to utilize blockchain as a form of censorship resistance to preserve invaluable public records. If there are any omissions in this database, please feel free to notify RIL’s research team: info.dap@protonmail.com .
China Open Courts aims to preserve and provide public access to judicial records from the People’s Republic of China that are at risk of disappearing from official sources. Below is an overview of the methodology adopted in this project, including our data collection strategies, scope of coverage, and plans for ensuring continued accuracy and relevance of the information. Interested parties are welcome to reach out to our team at chinaopencourts@protonmail.com for further information, collaboration opportunities, or suggestions on additional keywords and topics to include.
To protect your identity and personal information, you are advised to use these online resources with an encrypted device and VPN.
Who we are?
Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL) was founded by Asian veteran researchers and human rights defenders in 2023. RIL is a virtual platform promoting innovation, experimentation, and the exchange of research and educational initiatives that aim to develop and strengthen the democratic and digital resilience of organisations and individuals working in repressive environments.
RIL envisions a synergy of democracy, technology and civil society resilience today, especially when authoritarianism emerges as a common threat to liberal democracies and open societies. Building the capacities of citizens and civil groups to respond to such a new environment with creative and innovative instruments is of paramount importance for their sustainable development.
Our work focuses on researching Web3 technology, digital preservation of collective memory and history in conflict and post-conflict areas, and resilience of rule of law institutions and cultures in non-democratic regimes.