Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested nearly 100 persons for doxxing since it became an offense in the special administrative region in 2021, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said Wednesday.

Answering a query at the Legislative Council, Tang said the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has arrested a total of 63 persons for doxxing as of the end of 2024 while the police have nabbed 34 as of the third quarter of last year.

Of these arrested individuals, 50 have been convicted.

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“The Internet is not an unreal world that is beyond the law,” Tang said. “As far as the existing legislation in Hong Kong is concerned, most of the laws enacted to prevent crimes in the real world are in principle applicable to the online world, including social media and mobile communication softwares.”

Hong Kong made doxxing, or the disclosure of an individual’s personal data without his or her consent, a crime in October 2021.

“As regards online remarks or information which are not based on facts, there are mechanisms under the existing legal framework demanding the removal of inappropriate messages to combat online defamation and cyber-bullying,” Tang said.

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Under the Crimes Ordinance, in cases where intimate images (including falsified ones that have been altered) are published without consent, the court may order a defendant  to remove, delete or destroy the intimate images, he said.

Tang added that the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance also empowers the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to demand action to stop the disclosure of doxxing contents.