Hong Kong court quashes media watchdog’s finding against RTHK show that satirised police

Court of Appeal hands press unions partial victory in case of Headliner episode that skewered force’s excessive self-protection during Covid

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An episode of RTHK’s satirical current affairs programme Headliner shows a policeman wrapped in binliners to protect himself from Covid-19. Photo: RTHK

Published: 4:22pm, 4 Sep 2024Updated: 10:27pm, 4 Sep 2024

A Hong Kong court has quashed a communications watchdog’s finding that public broadcaster RTHK insulted police in a now-suspended satirical show four years ago, ruling the controversial portrayal could be excused because it targeted officers’ allegedly unprofessional conduct and not their social status.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday handed a partial victory to RTHK’s Programme Staff Union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association in a judicial review over the propriety of an episode of Headliner that implied police overreacted to the Covid-19 pandemic by hoarding masks and other protective equipment at the expense of the medical sector.

But the judges dismissed a wider challenge against the Communications Authority’s alleged infringement of RTHK’s freedom of expression by siding with a lower court’s finding that the government arm did not enjoy such a right as individuals did.

At the heart of the case were two comedy sketches of police in an episode of Headliner, aired on February 14, 2020, which drew more than 3,300 complaints.

The force was depicted as keeping “a lot of surplus” surgical masks for constables during the pandemic and having “nearly zero chance of exposure to open air” following a reduction in foot patrols due to understaffing.

One host also parodied an officer emerging from a large refuse bin, with his neck and hands wrapped in rubbish bags, before disappearing back into it, during the opening and closing segments of a skit.