Justice Secretary Paul Lam says public officers who spread fake information with the intention of undermining national security will run the risk of being prosecuted under planned Basic Law Article 23 legislation.

Lam was speaking in Legco on Sunday as lawmakers and the administration continued to discuss the Safeguarding National Security Bill for a third day in a row.

Asked what could constitute the offence of "unlawful disclosure of information that appears to be a confidential matter", Lam gave an example of a government worker publishing fake news of impending war.

"For example, suppose someone works in the government's security department and he or she creates a fake 'confidential' document, saying a foreign country is sending troops to invade Hong Kong tomorrow, and publishes this document," he said.

"Because he or she is a public officer, if people believe that it is real this will create chaos in society and a risk to national security. This is what the law is targeting."

Lam added that if leaked information was true, a different legal provision on protecting state secrets would apply when national security was involved.

New People's Party lawmaker Regina Ip asked what would happen if a public officer spread fake news of no consequence, such as claiming the government was set to give people a HK$30,000 cash handout.

In response, Security Secretary Chris Tang said this would not be an offence under Article 23 legislation, but could be a breach of the code of conduct.

Separately, Tang said organisations will not be committing the offence of external interference just because they work with or are funded by foreign groups.

He said the local bodies are only at risk of violating the law if they intend to use improper means in order to interfere with national or Hong Kong affairs.
_____________________________
Last updated: 2024-03-10 HKT 17:59