HK police needs balance, but that requires action, not a Facebook page

Published: 
Listen to this article
Susan Ramsay |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

Hong Kong’s Central harbourfront gets splash of colour for ‘Art March’

Hong Kong household happiness at lowest in six years

More mainland Chinese pupils ‘not an option’ for Hong Kong public schools, says education chief

Hong Kong to see 11 million inbound and outbound travellers in coming holidays

What is the Gila monster, and why are its bites so dangerous?

Police curation of the facebook page leaves them with less 'likes'.

Need for balance

I am writing in response to the article "Police sidestep questions about Facebook page" ( SCMP, November 5).

To start with, I would like to praise the police for launching a Facebook page as a public relations move. It's a great platform for the police to communicate with the public and enhance their transparency.

I think they should keep all the postings, including those that criticise the police force.

People should have the right to access all comments made by the public, analyse the facts, and then decide who is right or wrong.

By keeping the postings that praise them and deleting the rest, the police are misleading Hongkongers and being unfair to them.

I think the police, and the Hong Kong government, are using Facebook to restore their battered reputation after the Occupy movement. In fact, the police were criticised for the way they handled some of the demonstrations, with some protesters complaining that they were assaulted by officers.

But a police Facebook page won't help solve the city's social problems.

Action must be taken to raise public confidence in the police and the administration, helping to create a peaceful and prosperous city.

Tiffany Wong, Kowloon True Light School

From the Editor

Thank you for your letter, Tiffany. You raised a very thorny issue and I would really like to know what other readers think about it.

On the one hand, yes, the police have taken a giant step forward towards polishing their image by venturing on to Facebook. On the other, people are upset about comments being deleted. This is not a problem faced by the police alone. Many sites delete comments for various reasons.

Would it be worthwhile to leave "everything" online, even if people lie or use foul language?

It's a difficult question to answer, because, removing inappropriate comments could also mean you are silencing your critics.

We all need to be open and honest, but that is not easy to achieve.

Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Susan, Editor

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment