Police chief warns of "fake news" over media coverages on National Security Education Day

The police chief has warned against the spread of “fake news”, hatred and division in response to media coverage of events marking National Security Education Day on Thursday.

Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung and senior minister condemned local media outlets, which he did not name, for comparing children handling weapons at official events promoting the national security law to one of the most controversial episodes of the 2019 anti-government protests.

In a widely-circulated photo on social media, a student was seen holding a blue toy gun at the head of another child in a mocked-up train carriage during an activity at the police force’s tactical training facility in Wong Chuk Hang.

Some media, including Apple Daily, quoted netizens who said the photo resembled a police clearance operation inside Prince Edward MTR station on August 31, 2019.

The incident, in which police officers were accused of indiscriminately assaulting passengers during their arrests of suspected protesters returning home on the platforms of the station, has led to accusations that excessive force was deployed.

Referring to Apple’s Daily use of the picture of the schoolgirl, Tang said it’s “immoral” to compare children to anti-government protesters.

“Yesterday, we saw the front page of a newspaper drawing connections between happy children joining an event in a police college and ‘the black violence,’ which has led to doxxing and nuisance against the school,” Tang said after an event on Saturday, with the term often used by the pro-Beijing camp when describing the unrest.

“This showed how [some people] are trying to incite hatred and divide society, and intimidating those who want to get close with police.”

He also slammed the coverage for including misinformation, and despite the absence of laws to regulate fake news in the city, the force would make arrests if there is evidence showing national security law violations.