A media activist, researcher and educator currently based in Hong Kong. My Chinese writings are in inmediahk.net and my Twitter account is @oiwan.
Latest posts by Oiwan Lam
Taiwan: Deepfake pornographic video victims call for new laws against sexual violence in cyberspace
Taiwan's recent arrest of popular YouTuber Xiao Yu, Zhu Yuchen, for allegedly selling deepfake pornographic videos of public figures has drawn public attention to artificial intelligence (AI) crimes.
Is the shutting down of Chinese LinkedIn the end of foreign big tech’s engagement with China?
What are the reasons behind Microsoft's decision to leave China? Product failure? China' newly enacted data security law? or the proposing algorium law?
Chinese citizen journalist held incommunicado after COVID reporting reappears
Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi has returned. But other citizen journalists covering the COVID-19 outbreak in China are still missing. Among them Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to four years...
Behind Chinese Wikipedia user ban: threats, verbal attacks and election canvassing
The Foundation explained that the radical steps were taken as "some users have been physically harmed" as a result of the 'exposure of personal information to users in mainland China.'
Chinese netizens identify the Weibo supervisor system as a source of arbitrary censorship
Each Weibo supervisor filed an average of 4,472 censorship reports in July 2021. The top performer would have to file 700 complaints per day and 70 reports per hour.
Hong Kong will pass a tough anti-doxxing law that may curb freedom of information
The internet sector has expressed concerns about the vague definition of doxxing, the extension of criminal liability to tech companies and their employees and the extraterritorial implications of the amendment.
Security police interventions force closure of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's 26-year-old pro-democracy news outlet
In its inaugural editorial, Apple Daily had stated: "Are we not afraid of the changes 1997 could bring about? We are, but we are not willing to be daunted by...
Hong Kong to toughen up privacy law against doxxing
If the law passes, will the Privacy Commissioner implement the law fairly, taking against doxxing regardless of the victims' (real or perceived) political affiliations?
Journalist becomes first person convicted over 2019 mob attack that injured dozens of Hongkongers
Bao Choy was found guilty of violating the city's Road and Traffic Ordinance by "making false statements" while searching public records of license plates as she investigated the mob attack.
Hong Kong's pro-Beijing camp wants to ‘get rid of’ pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily
The call for a purge of Hong Kong's critical press comes as Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison.
China blocks Clubhouse after netizens discuss Xinjiang and Tiananmen
For a brief moment in time, Clubhouse cracked the Great Firewall.
China shuts down its most popular piracy website—is it just about copyright?
Netizens wonder whether the crackdown had something to do with Xi Jinping’s ideological battle against "Western values."
Hong Kong to launch real-name registration of mobile SIM cards
If the bill passes, mobile companies would have to set up a database with their subscribers' data, which they'd have to store for at least 12 months after the SIM...
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law
Upon his arrest, Hong Kong police raided the office building of his news outlets.
Tech giants halt data requests as Hong Kong national security law casts long shadow
Local demand for circumvention tools is surging amid fears that a China-style "Great Firewall" is in the offing.
China to expel American journalists from three US news outlets, watchdog decries threat to press freedom
China announced it would expel American journalists working for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. The ban would extend to Hong Kong and Macau.
How Chinese social media platforms control information on COVID-19
At the initial stage of the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, censors curbed public alerts on the threat. Later, censorship was broadened to include criticism of leaders and policies.
Chinese censorship demonstrates it can afford the cost of ‘the death of media’
A massive number of groups and user accounts were removed by platforms following the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, which set social media on fire.
Hong Kong activists denounce court ban on ‘violent’ content as a threat to internet freedom
Internet Society Hong Kong will file a judicial review against an interim injunction prohibiting anyone from posting, re-posting and aiding the dissemination of information that promotes violence.
Beijing constructs an “independence” plot for Hong Kong protests through information operations
Initial findings strongly suggest that the Chinese Communist party and state media outlets played a key role in spreading disinformation that framed the protests as a “pro-Hong Kong independence” movement.
