Page:Hong Kong National Security Law Article 43 Implementation Rules.pdf/52

Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Schedule 4—Part 4 Section 10 Part 4 Non-compliance 10. Non-compliance of person publishing electronic message

(1) If a person fails to comply with a requirement issued under section 7(2) of this Schedule, the person commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $100,000 and to imprisonment for 1 year.

(2) It is a defence for a person charged under subsection (1) to show that the person had a specified excuse for the failure to comply with the requirement.

(3) A defendant is to be taken to have shown that the defendant had a specified excuse for the failure if—
 * (a) sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue that the defendant had such an excuse; and
 * (b) the contrary is not proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a person had a specified excuse for a failure to comply with a requirement if it was not reasonable to expect the person to comply with the requirement because the technology necessary to comply with the requirement was not reasonably available to the person.

11. Power to remove messages from platform

If a magistrate is satisfied by information on oath that—
 * (a) a person fails to comply with a requirement issued under section 7(2) of this Schedule to remove an electronic message from an electronic platform; and