The Equal Opportunities Commission has released new research showing that while ethnic minorities in Hong Kong are highly connected online, language and digital-literacy barriers prevent many of them from fully benefiting from the city’s digital public services.

The study, conducted along with the University of Hong Kong between July 2024 and March 2025, surveyed 412 ethnic minority residents – among them Pakistani, Indian, Nepalese and Filipino – aged mainly between 20 and 49.

It used field experiments and focus groups to evaluate their access to digital public information and services.

Smartphone ownership among the respondents reached 99.27 percent, with over 70 percent having used the government’s iAM Smart app and about 64 percent having used public service platforms such as HA Go and eHealth.

The study also found that about 60 percent of the respondents prefer walk‑in appointments and telephone booking, instead of app or web‑based booking.

While 87 percent of those surveyed have native English standard or speak fluent English, just 18 percent reported comparable Chinese proficiency, and public information and social media content is often found to be available only in Chinese.

Linda Lam, who chairs the commission, pointed out that some ethnic minority members are not proficient in English either.

"For the government application, only Chinese and English are available, but there are still a small community of individuals who may not be as proficient in both languages," she said.

The study also found that some older ethnic minority members struggled to access online government services due to low digital literacy, even if they have a smartphone.

The commission proposed a number of recommendations to the government, among them establishing a digital inclusion working group, expanding AI‑powered translation and multilingual options across apps, as well as simplifying iAM Smart registration.

It also proposed that technology developers involve ethnic minority communities in service design, and schools and NGOs strengthen digital literacy training.


Edited by Edmond Fong