Welcome to Resilience Innovation Lab (RIL) ! In this newsletter, we will discuss the latest development of information access in Hong Kong, and share our latest reports and events in London, UK.
Increasing Constraints on the Information Environment in Hong Kong
The information environment in Hong Kong has been further tightened in light of recent developments. The Ombudsman, traditionally regarded as a government watchdog, has removed decades’ worth of annual and investigative reports, along with other documents dated prior to 2023, from its website. The stated rationale for this action is the need for more effective website management.
As a result, the publicly accessible archive of the Ombudsman’s reports has been reduced from the previous ten years to merely three. Access to reports predating 2023 is now restricted and only available upon written request. Lawmakers from the “patriots-only” legislature have criticised this move, viewing it as a step backwards in terms of transparency and access to public information. Even Patrick Nip, former Secretary for the Civil Service in Hong Kong, commented that good governance “emphasises transparency, public engagement, and accountability”.
In response, the Ombudsman defended the decision as an effort to enhance the user experience of its website. However, this explanation has failed to alleviate public concerns that access to government data is being increasingly curtailed at the expense of transparency and accountability. The move also mirrors common strategies employed by authoritarian regimes to censor and control the flow of information.
Meanwhile, information professionals—particularly journalists—are facing new forms of harassment from government agencies. This week, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) held a press conference alleging that the city’s tax authorities had targeted at least 20 journalists, including current or former media executives and their family members, with audits conducted without sufficient evidence.
The head of the HKJA argued that such actions by the government “do have a negative effect on Hong Kong’s press freedom… Press freedom not only means the ability for media and journalists to operate safely, physically… It also involves the business environment—whether it is sustainable for them to continue operating.” Reporters Without Borders, an NGO that monitors global press freedom, condemned the actions of the Hong Kong government as an “intimidation tactic to dissuade independent journalists from reporting”.
Administrative harassment is a well-known tactic employed by authoritarian governments to intimidate critics and dissenters using regulatory and legal measures, often under the guise of commercial or civil procedures. Such tactics allow governments to exert pressure on targeted individuals—many of whom may have limited resources—without formally charging them with speech-related offences.
Report Launch: Safeguarding Freedom of Information in Hong Kong
The recent developments serve to confirm the concerns we raised in our earlier report.
Our research publication, Safeguarding Freedom of Information in Hong Kong: Challenges, Opportunities and Remedies, systematically outlines how Hong Kong’s information access environment has been significantly constrained since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) in 2020 and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in 2024. These measures have severely curtailed press freedom and undermined the ability of civil society to hold the government accountable. They have encouraged the withholding of publicly available data and represent a departure from international human rights standards.
Access to and dissemination of information is increasingly criminalised, resulting in diminished government transparency, suppression of the media, and reduced accessibility to data for businesses. The repercussions are being felt by journalists, the business sector, researchers, and international organisations alike.
We encourage you to share this report with stakeholders in your network and to continue monitoring the authorities’ performance in upholding the freedom to access and disseminate information.
Download the Chinese version of the report here.
Download the English version of the report here.
Event Invitation: “Ways of Remembering”
Resilience Innovation Lab is pleased to collaborate with Hong Kong Action Archives for the following exhibition event: Ways of Remembering.
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.
The last day of the exhibition is on 26 May 2025 (Monday, bank holiday in the UK). You are cordinally invited to visit the exhibition and its side events, which can be found in the Eventbrite website below.
Eventbrite Event Details: Click here .
#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.
An Unbreakable Wall? Challenges and Opportunities of Defending Freedom of Information in China is RIL’s first research report on information environment in China. This report provides a comprehensive account of China’s information environment under the rule of the CCP. 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. The full report is now available on our website.
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.