Media Sector Should Be Self-regulating: John Lee

Chief Secretary John Lee says the media industry could consider introducing rules to regulate itself against the spread of fake news.

He told RTHK’s Overview Policy that the law protects freedom of information, but “fake information that’s destructive must be stopped”.

Lee said the government is doing a study to explore different ways to deal with the issue.

“There are two ways to deal with the problem. One is to manage it, and the other is to criminalise it. Personally, I think we should first try to manage it because we want to strike a balance,” he said.

“If we can manage it well and the problem is under control, we can allow freedom of information in accordance with the law while tackling the problem at the same time.”

He said the media industry should come up with a way to ensure its credibility and conduct meet society’s expectations.

“If the industry has self-discipline and introduce regulations as well as a management or punishment mechanism, will the government still need to introduce laws? We can study further,” he said.