Urgent Business: Hong Kong, Freedom of Expression and 1997
under its administration, it does, however, leave room for extending the grip of censorship on radio broadcasting beyond that laid down in Part IIIA of the Telecommunication Ordinance. Section 18 empowers the Governor in Council, at any time, and in addition to powers under Section 130 of the Telecommunication Ordinance, to issue binding directives on the Authority "regarding the standards of programmes... including the content and balance of such programmes". The Governor may also require the Authority to direct a licensee to comply.
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4.4.2 Television
The potential for arbitrary censorship under the Television Ordinance1 is very considerable. Of special concern are provisions allowing the Governor to close down television stations in ill-defined conditions of emergency, as well as provisions which confer on the Broadcasting Authority, the body overseeing the regulation of television and sound broadcasts, wide powers of pre-censorship and prohibition of programmes.
Section 14(3)(c) empowers the Governor in Council to revoke a television (station) licence "if it appears to him that the security of Hong Kong so requires". A wholly discretionary power, this provision seems to be an extension of the Governor in Council's similarly subjective powers of censorship under Section 2(2)(a) of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance. The ill-defined language of the provision implies an open-ended opportunity for the Governor in Council to revoke licences when he believes the security of the territory is at risk. A declaration of emergency does not appear to be a condition.
These powers of censorship are further extended under Section 27(2)(b), which allows the Governor in Council to make regulations establishing standards for programmes containing political or religious material. Subsidiary legislation, the Television (Standards of Programmes) Regulations, lays these standards down in detail.20 Two regulations, 4 and 5, are of particular concern: the first stipulates that all programmes must exclude material likely "to serve the interest of any foreign political party"; the latter that all "news covering international and local affairs [be from] sources or services approved" by the Broadcasting Authority.21
1
Regulation 5, at least, is little more than a formality at present. Whether this will continue to be the case if such regulations remain in place during these uncertain transition years is open to question. Nevertheless, there is a sense in which they are an effect rather than a cause, and
19 Television Ordinance (Cap 52), enacted in 1964.
20
Television (Standards of Programmes) Regulations (Cap 52, Section 27/1973). It is normal for such legislation to be drafted by the Legal Department following executive policy, with the Governor's final approval, though clearly the opportunity exists under Section 27 for the Governor, personally, to create such regulations.
21
These particular standards were enacted during the tense years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
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