The Communication Authority is a statutory body with a mandate of regulating the broadcasting and telecommunication industries in Hong Kong. All television programme service licensees are obliged to act in accordance with relevant laws, including the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562), the Broadcasting (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 391), and the related subsidiary legislation (Communications Authority, 2020). These regulations set out standards related to programming, advertising, and technical issues for the licensees. Programming codes relate to issues of taste and decency, sex and violence, and impartiality and fairness, while advertising codes deal with issues related to advertising and sponsorships on broadcast outlets. Technical codes are concerned with technical quality.
Other key laws relevant to telecommunications include the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), which regulates the protection of personal data, and the Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619), which regulates competitive behaviour. There are few regulations applicable to the Internet, aside from copyright law and the regulation of pornographic content.
Hong Kong has no media content monitoring instruments, although The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The University of Hong Kong conduct regular surveys to gauge the public’s evaluation of media credibility. No universities or independent supervising bodies have undertaken research to measure the quality of Hong Kong media content.
