Hong Kong land-record search rules draw objections from journalists
New search rules due to take effect in 2027 leave news reporting off a list of specified purposes, prompting concerns about scrutiny of property ownership.
Hong Kong’s journalists’ association urged authorities on Wednesday, 21 October, to shelve new rules for searching the city’s land records, warning that they could impede reporting on property ownership. The rules, gazetted last week and due to take effect in 2027, would make searches subject to specified purposes and case-by-case review where public interest is invoked.
How land-record searches would change
The new rules specify nine purposes for searching land records, including academic and market research, Hong Kong Free Press reported. News reporting is not expressly listed. Public interest is a permitted ground, but the Land Registrar would assess applications individually. At present, anyone can search the records without supporting documents after declaring compliance with privacy laws.
The government tabled eight pieces of subsidiary legislation, including a regulation covering land-record searches, at the Legislative Council for negative vetting, the South China Morning Post reported. Most provisions, including the tighter search arrangements, are expected to take effect in the first half of 2027, according to the Post. Some legislators have asked the government to explain how the rules would operate and streamline applications for investigative reporting.
Why journalists oppose the restrictions
The Hong Kong Journalists Association asked legislators to scrutinise the amendments and press for operational standards that protect access to information. It argued that authorities had not demonstrated that existing searches threatened privacy. The group cited 18 investigative reports using land records that it said could not have been carried out under the proposed arrangements.
Association chair Selina Cheng told Hong Kong Free Press that the changes would severely damage routine property reporting and investigations into possible land misuse. Those are the association’s forecasts of how the rules would work once implemented. Access matters in Hong Kong because property is a major part of its economy and land records allow journalists to examine ownership and use.
The Development Bureau said in a document submitted to legislators that the changes aim to balance personal-data privacy with the transparency and efficiency of land records, according to Hong Kong Free Press. The dispute follows earlier restrictions on media access to vehicle-registration particulars: the journalists’ association said only one of 17 media applications for those records was partially approved, and only after a considerable delay.
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Sources and context
- Hong Kong to tighten media access to land records, triggering concernsSouth China Morning Post (Edith Lin and Vivian Au)
- Press group denounces new rules tightening media access to land recordsHong Kong Free Press
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.