Hong Kong police: doxxed, ambushed, yet still resolute

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, September 5, 2019
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Hong Kong police shows an evidence image of violent acts by radical demonstrators during a daily press conference. [Photo/Xinhua]

When Ah Ho, 20, became a new constable of the Hong Kong Police Force in May, he did not expect that he and his colleagues would face a whole new level of danger, complexity and pressure on the job.

Hong Kong has since June suffered from prolonged and escalating violence that originated from demonstrations over proposed ordinance amendments concerning fugitive offenders.

Officers said the level of aggression by demonstrators has been the highest in decades, but in addition to their challenging work, the police also need to deal with intense hostility.

Ah Ho is among four officers who spoke to Xinhua about their experiences over the last three months. Their accounts shed light on the heavy pressure they have to endure, tricks of perpetrators to corner police, and the resolve of police to maintain law and order and fight street violence.

All officers declined to be named, citing worries over possible abuse of information.

Being doxxed


Ah Ho was one of the many victims of cyberbullying against police. On social networking platform Instagram, Ah Ho had disagreements with his friends over whether the police's responsive law-enforcing activities were appropriate, only to find later that he was targeted and maliciously doxxed.

Ah Ho and his family's identity cards, telephone numbers, home address and other private information were illegally and intentionally leaked online.

Within half a month, Ah Ho and his family received more than 3,900 harassment calls and were frequently abused verbally. His personal information and that of his family was illegally used to apply for loans, order takeaways, and hail taxis and Uber rides.

To date, the personal data of more than 1,800 police officers and their next-of-kin have been disclosed online since June, including pictures and information about the schools and classes of their children, according to statistics by the Hong Kong police.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has transferred 608 doxxing cases to the police for further investigation, of which more than 70 percent were related to police officers.

Ah Ho, who serves in the patrol sub-unit in Kowloon West, said the malicious doxxing has greatly disturbed the lives of his family.

"But I will stay true to my heart. The reason why I chose to be a policeman remains unchanged, regardless of being doxxed or not," he said.

To help those affected officers, the welfare service group of the Hong Kong police has offered to change their living quarters and provide psychological counselling.

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