On July 15, the Hong Kong Police Force announced a major upgrade of its existing public relations apparatus into a new police wing, headed by an assistant commissioner. The new Public Relations Wing is expanded from the Police Public Relations Bureau to three bureaus — Media Liaison and Support, Community Relations, and Information and Publicity.
The upgrade, given the recent history of how the police have been outfoxed and outwitted by the opposition at every turn as they struggled to control the insurrection, is well overdue. While the police are on the righteous side, that alone is not enough to win the hearts and minds of the populace. It simply could not withstand the slick propaganda productions of the opposition, in terms of their professional-grade videos, posters, and other miscellaneous publicity materials, all most likely produced with the professional guidance and funding of their foreign supporters.
The police, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government as a whole, have learned a bitter lesson that being right will not automatically ensure public support. The setbacks of the previous administration are illustrative. As it tried to push through the extradition bill in 2019, perfectly necessary legislation, it was demonized by the opposition’s propaganda that distorted its intent by ascribing to it many “malevolent hidden purposes”, thereby inciting widespread opposition against it.
Another example shows the ease with which persistent egregious propaganda can manufacture a crisis for the government. Just to marshal more violent opposition against the government, the opposition spread unfounded rumors of the police having undertaken extrajudicial killings of an unverified number of people in the Prince Edward MTR station and that the dead bodies were immediately taken away for secret burial. On top of that, there were rumors of sexual assaults and rapes of some arrested female rioters in police detention centers, while a woman rioter claimed to have been shot in the eye by the riot police yet refused to show her claimed injury in public. The most astonishing thing is that there are still people who believe in such absurd rumors today!
Even more damaging was the Western media’s reports of “police brutality” by our finest. Most of them are exaggerated reports supplied by the rioters themselves hoping to win sympathy and popular support. But it has since caused serious reputational damage to our police, whose international ranking has plummeted significantly following the insurrection. All that highlights the importance of nipping fake news in the bud before it takes root among the people and the media.
The police are right to follow the best practice of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. When the ICAC was established in 1974, one of the first things it did was to create the Community Relations Department (CRD) headed by an assistant director, supported by over 150 staff. Its work covers public relations, media liaison, publicity production, public education and community centers, very similar to the Police Force’s new Public Relations Wing. CRD was instrumental in successfully changing the then popular culture of accepting corruption as a way of life to the current zero tolerance of corruption, and maintaining the ICAC’s enviable image worldwide. It’s a clear vindication of investment in public relations and community education.
The police in fact have now taken a lead in all government departments in PR initiatives. It is among the first to open a Facebook account, which was a very brave move at the peak of the insurrection rioting. The objective is to counter the fake news on the internet, though initially the Facebook group was overwhelmed by nasty comments from the opposition. But police persisted and patiently responded, with the result that the police Facebook site has become a highly effective communication tool with the public.
Another effective police initiative was the production of a dramatized promotional video showing police officers racing to rescue hostages during a simulated terrorist attack, thereby demonstrating police professionalism and dedication, and further boosting the police’s image.
This should be a role model for all government departments to allow them to tell their own stories and that of Hong Kong and the country. They should equip themselves with all the major social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc, to facilitate getting their messages to the public, particularly the younger generation, as most of them now receive news from social media
Its latest initiative is the adoption of new technology to combat misinformation, using a round-the-clock high-tech public opinion tracker with big data to quell rumors and to correct misinformation at the earliest opportunity.
As Assistant Commissioner Joe Chan Tung said, the new police wing will tell good stories about our police, city and country proactively.
This should be a role model for all government departments to allow them to tell their own stories and that of Hong Kong and the country. They should equip themselves with all the major social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc, to facilitate getting their messages to the public, particularly the younger generation, as most of them now receive news from social media.
For example, there is now a spurt of PR efforts attempting to overturn the earlier government decision to retrieve a very small portion of the Fanling golf course for public housing, obviously trying to protect the self-interest of a small wealthy minority sector in total disregard of the larger public interest. Yet the government was not seen to be countering this public lobbying effort. The Housing Bureau should learn from the effective proactive approach of the police in employing public relations to champion its cause. Perhaps a promotional video can be produced with a split screen showing a few wealthy people playing on the vast golf course on one side, and a family of six jam-packed into a subdivided flat on the other, to demonstrate how ridiculous it would be to attempt to overturn the government’s decision to retrieve just a nine-hole course from the 54-hole golf course!
The Home Affairs Department should also create Facebook groups in each of the 18 districts to facilitate direct communication with local residents about district affairs. This was the tactic of the opposition during the insurrection when it successfully created Facebook groups in all 18 districts to organize local disturbances. Similarly, the Lands Department should be given the task of countering the environmental objections to green land development for public housing usage on social media.
But for a long-term solution to this anarchy of misinformation and fake news, the government must introduce a new law criminalizing the spreading of mischievous misinformation and fake news.
As Assistant Commissioner Joe Chan said, “Even one piece of fake news is too many. If we don’t handle it in a timely, active and serious manner, it can have a serious impact on society and residents.”
The author is an adjunct professor of HKU Space, and a council member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies. He retired as deputy commissioner of the ICAC.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.