Hong Kong Independent Journalist Hit with Sedition Charge
Early Wednesday morning, officers from the national security unit of Hong Kong’s police force arrested two people, including the founder and webmaster of the online independent media outlet Boom News (爆炸頭), the latest move against media in the territory on national security grounds.
According to Hong Kong media reports, Tang Ho-wing (鄧浩榮), who is also known by the nickname “Bauzatau” (爆炸頭), or “boom head,” was arrested on charges of “publishing false information with seditious or inciting intent” (涉嫌發佈假消息煽動), language that references sedition provisions in the territory’s 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. A notice from Hong Kong police late yesterday addressed Tang’s case among others without identifying him by name, and said that a 37-year-old local man had been detained for investigation.
Media reports stated that Tang was detained for a video he posted on August 31 this year, documenting a gathering of protesters memorializing what has become known as the “831 Incident” — when passengers at Prince Edward station were indiscriminately beaten by Hong Kong police amid mass protests in 2019. A total of eight people have now been arrested by national security police in association with this year’s memorial event outside the station, Hong Kong’s DotDot News reported. Some who were present at the protest had allegedly questioned whether anyone had died during the attacks and demanded an investigation.
The sedition provisions specify seven years of imprisonment for those convicted of “seditious intention.” Sedition is defined as the ordinance as an intention to stir hatred or contempt against the Chinese state and its central institutions, or against Hong Kong’s government and courts; to sow enmity among residents; to incite violence; or to encourage lawbreaking.
Criticizing the use of the same provisions in April 2025 to convict pro-democracy activist Chow Kim-ho (周劍豪), the press freedom advocacy group Article19 noted that “national security laws in Hong Kong have increasingly been weaponised to criminalise free expression.” This summer, the same provision was used to arrest several booksellers and journalists, including those associated with the now-shuttered “Have A Nice Stay” (留下書舍) bookstore, which had a stated mission of promoting journalism and literary reportage.
