Hong Kong on Wednesday formally banned films that are deemed to “threaten national security” with an amendment to beef up its existing film censorship law, the latest move to tighten the grip on ar…
The city’s legislative council — in which there are no opposing forces — amended the Film Censorship Bill by a show of hands to give movie censors the task of vetting content for violations of a draconian national security written and imposed by Beijing last summer. They will now be able to hold off on their decisions for 28 days rather than just two weeks as they seek “legal advice” to inform their decision.
Violators screening unauthorized content will face punishments of fines up to $129,000 and three years in prison. At the legislative meeting, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah sought to reassure that most movies will not be affected by the new rules. “Our objective is simple and direct — it is to improve our film censorship system and effectively prevent and suppress any act that would endanger national security,” he said, according to the South China Morning Post.
The film shouldn’t be shown, she said, because “no society in the world welcome forces that encourage young people to break the law, harbour hatred against their own countries and embrace terrorism.”
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