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Hong Kong media
Hong KongSociety

RTHK staff union and Hong Kong journalists’ group get nod to launch ‘important freedom of speech’ court challenge over watchdog’s satire show warning

  • Groups can challenge Communications Authority after judicial review application approved
  • Watchdog previously said Headliner episode ‘denigrated and insulted’ police force

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A legal bid by RTHK’s Programme Staff Union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association can go ahead. Photo: Dickson Lee
Kimmy Chung

A Hong Kong court has granted an application for judicial review challenging a warning from the communications watchdog that led to the suspension of a long-running political satire show by the city’s public broadcaster.

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The legal bid, jointly filed by RTHK’s Programme Staff Union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association, seeks to overturn a ruling by the Communications Authority that suggested the popular television show Headliner had “denigrated and insulted” the police force.

“It would be a very important court case concerning the freedom of speech in Hong Kong,” Gladys Chiu Sin-yan, the union’s chairwoman, said on Tuesday.

In May, the authority issued RTHK a warning over an episode of the show on February 14, which portrayed police as trash, and implied they hoarded masks and other personal protective equipment at the expense of the medical sector during the coronavirus pandemic.
Leung Ka-wing, RTHK director of broadcasting, originally defended the Headliner show, but later apologised. Photo: Dickson Lee
Leung Ka-wing, RTHK director of broadcasting, originally defended the Headliner show, but later apologised. Photo: Dickson Lee
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The authority said the programme had “denigrated and “insulted” the police, and the jokes were “factually inaccurate”.

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