MAR 17 '87 16:16 TIBCOOL) HK GOVT
affects of deleting restriction to *local noWEDED AG!
It has been said that the deletion of the reference in the siause to ‘lcoal newspaper will greatly extend its scope. [I will
not go into the background to this amendment, which has already been discussed.)
&
2.
In practies the amendment will be of limited significance.
It is of course correct, as has been said, that the removal of the
restriction to newspapers extends the clause to other forms ef
publication. In the case of the broadcasting media this adds little or nothing to the controls to which they are already subject. far as mything else is conserned, 'publish' for this purpose bears its ordinary dictionary meaning of making something generally known. Therefore private conversations, and even speeches to private meetings and alub or company circulare will not be caught, Public speeches would in principle be covered, but bearing in mind that another ingredient of the offence is the need to show a likelihood of omusing pablie alarm or disturbing publio order, it would only be in cases of public speeches to large audiences that the possibility of offending against the section could arise. Since that means of commmicating information is in volume terms negligible in Hong Kong compared to what is published by the mass media, this extension of the bill will beve little practical effect. On the other hand, it removes an anomaly.
In so far as the mischief against which the clause is aimed can be
effected by publications other than in newspapers, 1 ia illogical to
single out newspapers as the target of the olause.
P.13
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