Censorship in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

has been lax since 1970s when the British government negotiated the sovereignty of Hong Kong with the government of the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. Since then, freedom of speech is considered an integral Hong Kong value, as protected by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights

In contrast to the rest of the PRC where control over media is pervasive, Hong Kong enjoys "real press freedom" according to the Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...

 and Hong Kong's press freedom ranks the second in Asia after Japan in the Press Freedom Index

Press Freedom Index

The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. Small countries, such as Andorra, are excluded from this report...

.

Although fears that the media in Hong Kong would lose their independence after 1997 have not yet to realize, worries that the business ties between Beijing and the media owners may affect the editorially-dynamic media have not been borne out. Several conglomerate

Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

s are also known to exert influence through advertising revenue on editorial.

By law, censorship is usually practiced against the distribution of certain materials, particularly child pornography, obscene images, and reports on court cases which may lead to unfair trial.