Standards-Setting, National Security, and the Responsibility of Technological Platforms in Hong Kong: Understanding Article 139 of the Hong Kong Basic Law

Dr Thompson, Marcelo   (Principal Investigator (PI))

14

2022-10-03

2023-11-30

247455

Standards-Setting, National Security, and the Responsibility of Technological Platforms in Hong Kong: Understanding Article 139 of the Hong Kong Basic Law

Sovereignty / National-Security / Standards-Setting / Technological Platforms / Hong Kong Basic Law

Law

2022.A8.121.22B

Public Policy Research Funding Scheme 2022/23

2022

Completed

1. Examine the contours of the HKSAR Government’s competence to decide on technological standards applicable in Hong Kong (article 139(2) of the Basic Law), in the light of its historical and conceptual underpinnings; 2. Evaluate in what ways do challenges brought about by global Internet processes—from the informality of multi-stakeholder mechanisms to the platformization of contemporary societies—invite a reappraisal of such contours; 3. Understand the national security field as a central case of the presentation of such challenges, but examine whether and how national security concerns also traverse other realms, as ideals of national sovereignty find themselves increasingly eroded by the massively growing power of technological platforms; and 4. Map the central domains of concern in relation to the regulation of technological platforms in the national security field, identifying relevant legal frameworks as well as technological standards and the bodies responsible for these, understanding in what ways the HKSAR government interfaces with these bodies at the national and global levels, and contrasting the responsibilities recognized under the national security framework in Hong Kong with those of other jurisdictions.