Hong Kong’s government libraries are set to review their collections after more than 50 reports were made by the public about suspected “objectionable” content found in library books and other titles.
The government received reports under the new “Collection of Views on Library Collections” mechanism, launched in early July, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said on Thursday in response to HKFP’s enquiries.
The library materials in question would be reviewed as soon as possible, and if they were found to contain “objectionable contents,” they would be taken down from the shelves and eventually withdrawn from the library collection, the department said.
According to the LCSD, content deemed “objectionable” include exaggerated violence, pornography and vulgarism. It also includes content which breached the laws of Hong Kong or endangered national security.
The department did not give details on the library materials in question, nor did it respond to questions on the number of reports linked to suspected national security violations. Last April, then-Acting Secretary for Home Affairs Jack Chan said that disclosing any alleged list of library titles that are sensitive to national security would, itself, be unfavourable to national security.
The new channel, which collected views from the public via an online form, by email or in paper format, was part of the LCSD’s move to step up efforts to review library materials in the name of safeguarding national security.
It was introduced after the LCSD was told by the Audit Commission in April that there was a need to put in greater effort to ensure the collections at government-managed libraries were appropriate and did not contravene the Beijing-imposed security legislation.
Government auditors wrote at the time that the LCSD had conducted a preliminary review of library materials for “national security risk considerations” in 2021. The materials identified in the initial review were later scrutinised by the department for taking “necessary follow-up actions,” they said.
Hong Kong Public Libraries had already completed the review of library books, with those seen as “manifestly contrary” to national security removed, the audit report read, citing the LCSD.
“LCSD enhanced the workflow of book review and deployed additional manpower to expedite the review of those books deemed of a higher risk, so as to ensure that the collections of Hong Kong Public Libraries are in compliance with the laws of Hong Kong and do not pose risks to national security,” a government paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday read.
In 2021, an HKFP report revealed that 29 out of 149 books about the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown were removed from the shelves over the past 12 years. Local media reported in May this year that political titles by authors including academics Simon Shen and Ma Ngok, former lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, and the late prominent democrat Szeto Wah had been purged from the shelves of local public libraries.
According to Ming Pao, around 40 per cent of books and recordings about political topics or figures had been removed from public libraries since 2020. Of 468 political books and recordings identified by the newspaper, at least 195 had been removed – 96 of them in the past year, the newspaper reported.
Chief Executive John Lee said in May that libraries had to “do their duties” to ensure the books allowed for public circulation “served the best interest of Hong Kong.”
The city’s leader also said the books removed from public libraries could still be purchased from bookstores.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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