Security chief: False online charges defame police force

The flood of unfounded online accusations against the Hong Kong Police Force are "unfair" and have defamed the city's law enforcers who have been "efficient, restrained and attentive to their duties" when handling violent protests, Hong Kong's security chief said on Monday when the city's social unrest officially began its seventh month.

In an article published in a local Chinese newspaper, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu thanked the force for being firm in safeguarding the city's rule of law despite coming under great pressure.

Police have borne the brunt of anti-government sentiment among protesters who mounted fierce attacks on officers, leaked their personal information as well as those of their family members online, and called for the bullying of their children.

Lee said the internet and social media have been flooded with hatred and deliberate slanders against the police, fueling anxiety and anti-police sentiment among the public.

He cited as an example rumors that people had been killed on Aug 31 in a police clearance operation at the Mong Kok MTR Station, saying that despite repeated clarifications by the police and the Fire Services Department, such allegations have continued.

Such accusations are often focused on the behavior of a police officer and blown out of proportion, said Lee. Some people even doctored footage or photos to defame the police force.

Lee hopes that members of the public could set aside their political differences, and move away from confrontation and lies to restoring peace and order.

The community should not justify violence, Lee urged. "Together, we should stop the violence and restore peace."

Police said on Monday the force had made 6,022 arrests, 2,393 of whom were students, since protest violence broke out in mid-June.

According to Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Stephen Wong Kai-yi, the commission had received nearly 3,600 complaints involving 2,220 web links about doxxing and cyberbullying from June to October, compared with only 50 cases at the start of the year, with 32 percent of the reported web links related to police officers and their families.