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Campaign to fight against pornographic materials
In response to the concern raised by the Fight Crime Committee and the public at large, the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA), the Police and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) will launch a three-month campaign, starting from tomorrow (1 March), against pornographic materials in public places.
Details were announced at a press conference today (Friday) by the Commissioner for TELA, Mr Eddy Chan; Police Senior Superintendent, Mr Steve Robins; and Senior Superintendent of Customs and Excise, Mr Ronny H.K. Tsang.
Mr Chan said that at present, the three departments were responsible for the enforcement of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (COLAO) which dealt with the sales and publications of indecent and obscene articles.
There is a good division of responsibility among them. TELA monitors articles on sale in the market, such as newspapers and magazines; issues summonses against publishers if their publications do not comply with statutory requirements; assists the Police in identifying blackspots; and takes part in regular joint operations with the other enforcement agencies.
The Police mainly deals with the sale of obscene and indecent articles at the wholesale/retail outlets, e.g. video and computer shops in the districts, while the Customs and Excise Department tackles obscene and indecent articles at the entry points and in the course of their copyright enforcement work.
Last year, they took out more than 890 prosecutions against those in breach of the Ordinance resulting in 930 people being arrested and 216,500 obscene and indecent articles, including 181,000 VCD/CD ROMs, forfeited. Some offences attracted penalties of fines and imprisonment.
Mr Chan said that to enhance public awareness of the problem, the campaign would focus on three main aspects enforcement, publicity and education.
Stepped-up enforcement action
Accord priorities in taking enforcement action against pornographic articles. At present, the Police and TELA conduct joint operations at least once a week. These will be increased during the campaign period.
Where appropriate and in consultation with the Legal Department, apply to courts for higher penalties for COIAO offences.