Hong KongControl of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, section 22, publishing an indecent article to a person under 18
Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390), s. 22
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- Do not publish an indecent article to a person under 18, whether or not you know that the article is indecent or that the person is under 18 (s. 22(1)).
- An article is published when it is distributed, circulated, sold, hired, given or lent to the public or a section of the public (s. 2(4)(a)), so check the age of the person you are dealing with before you hand over an article that is indecent.
- To rely on the identity-document defence, inspect an identity card or passport purporting to be the juvenile's and believe on reasonable grounds that the person is not a juvenile (s. 22(2)(b)).
- Publishing an article that a Tribunal has classified as Class I, or publishing in compliance with conditions the Tribunal imposed, is also a defence (s. 22(2)(a) and (c)).
- A Tribunal finding that the publication was intended for the public good, as being in the interests of science, literature, art or learning, or any other object of general concern, is a further defence (s. 28).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Publishing an indecent article to a juvenile is an offence carrying a fine of $400,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a first conviction, and a fine of $800,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a second or subsequent conviction (s. 22(1)).
Penalty structure
Fine of HKD 400,000 on a first conviction and HKD 800,000 on a second or subsequent conviction, each with imprisonment for 12 months (s. 22(1)); the figure shown is the higher tier.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- HKD
- Fixed cap
- 800,000
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does the definition of publishing in section 2(4), which turns on distributing, circulating, selling, hiring, giving or lending an article to the public or a section of the public, reach material a service makes available to users over a network?
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Any person who publishes an article, meaning a thing consisting of or containing material to be read or looked at, a sound recording, or a film, video-tape, disc or other record of a picture or pictures. The Ordinance does not apply to a film, storage medium, packaging or advertising material approved under the Film Censorship Ordinance (Cap. 392), or to material permitted to be provided under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) (s. 3).
Obligation class
Age verification, Prohibition
Verification methods
Gov ID
What this law does
Section 22(1) of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance makes it an offence to publish any indecent article to a person who is a juvenile, whether or not the publisher knows that it is an indecent article or that the person is a juvenile. A juvenile is a person under the age of 18 years. A thing is indecent if by reason of indecency it is not suitable to be published to a juvenile.
A person publishes an article if, among other acts, the person distributes, circulates, sells, hires, gives or lends it to the public or a section of the public.
Section 22(2) gives a defence where the article is classified as a Class I article, where the person charged inspected an identity card or passport purporting to be the juvenile's and believed on reasonable grounds that the juvenile was not a juvenile, or where the article was published in compliance with conditions imposed by a Tribunal.
Section 28 also makes it a defence to a charge under Part IV, which includes section 22, that a Tribunal finds the publication was intended for the public good as being in the interests of science, literature, art or learning, or any other object of general concern. The penalty is a fine of $400,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a first conviction, and a fine of $800,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a second or subsequent conviction.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content or serves under-18s.