Using Russia-based servers and promoted by powerful groups linked to China's ruling Communist Party, a sophisticated anonymous website is targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy figures -- and there is almost no way to stop it.

From high-profile activists to journalists and lawmakers, about 200 people seen as supporting Hong Kong's protest movement have been "doxxed" -- had their personal details posted online -- by the site, HK Leaks, since it emerged in August.

"I received hundreds of threatening calls," a female reporter at Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper, told AFP.

"They would call me a bitch, and a prostitute, and tell me to watch out or they would kill me."

Disclosing certain personal details, including phone numbers, without consent is illegal in Hong Kong.

Privacy Commissioner Stephen Wong said on September 17 he had ordered HK Leaks to take down all posts.

But the site remains online: on its front page, a photo of black-clad protesters with a Chinese-language banner saying: "We want to know who these people are and why they are messing up Hong Kong!"

Personal details -- names, home addresses, personal telephone numbers -- of hundreds of people are posted alongside details of their "misdeeds".

More than two million people follow Facebook pages that have shared HK Leaks posts, according to data from social media monitoring platform CrowdTangle.

And the site itself has received more than 175,000 unique page views, according to SiteWorthTraffic.

"I felt really helpless when I realised the site couldn't be blocked," said the reporter, who suspended her telephone number in a bid to escape the abuse.

Apple Daily obtained a court order in a bid to prevent further doxxing attacks, but her personal details remain on HK Leaks.

-- 'Bulletproof' site --

The problem, experts say, is that HK Leaks is a sophisticated operation specifically designed to evade prosecution.

It is registered anonymously on a Russian server, uses so-called bulletproof anonymous hosting -- also favoured by controversial white supremacist-linked sites such as 8chan -- and has shifted domain three times since August alone.

In early August, the site was live as hkleaks.org, before migrating to hkleaks.ru which became defunct late October, replaced by three other similar domain names, with the same content on each, according to an AFP investigation.

Its listed contact email is registered on Yandex, a Russian internet services company.

"This site seems to be really well set up to reveal as little as possible and it doesn't use lots of external services, like buttons, statistics trackers, various scripts that would leak information," said Maarten Schenk, co-founder of the fact-check site Lead Stories.

It would require a court order to get the domain registrar to hand over any details, Schenk said, warning that the people behind HK Leaks could have paid in bitcoin and be untraceable anyway.

"Whoever is running this site is good at what they do," he told AFP.

HK Leaks uses DDOS-Guard, a Russia-based hosting provider, and "the IP address that is shown for the website is not that of the website itself but of the DDOS-Guard company," cybersecurity expert Brian Honan told AFP.

The site is also registered under the name of a DDOS-Guard employee, which is "part of the device which enables owners of websites to hide their identity," he added.

- 'Hideous' people -

Some pro-democracy protesters have also doxxed Hong Kong's police, which last week obtained a court injunction giving them further protections against personal details being leaked.

Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has logged around 2,000 cases of doxxing -- roughly half affecting police -- since protests began in June, according to a spokesman for his office.

However the doxxing of police has been in a less co-ordinated fashion and without any specific or sophisticated website.

Meanwhile, HK Leaks has been promoted by groups linked to China's Communist Party.

These include the Chinese Communist Youth League, which has promoted the doxxing site on their official Weibo accounts.

"Netizens have produced a website called HK Leaks... These hideous people have been categorised according to surname. Let's remove their masks, take action!" a September 18 post on one of the league's account says.

The state-run broadcaster, CCTV, posted the same message on its official Weibo account, where it received more than 75,000 likes.

The nationalist Global Times newspaper, a Communist Party mouthpiece, posted a similar message on its Weibo account, and added a hashtag #listofunmaskedHongKongmob which has been viewed more than 230 million times.

HK Leaks has also been promoted by a network of Twitter bot accounts identified by AFP -- some created shortly before the website was set up in August 2019, others old, idle accounts that were revived around the same time.

Many of the tweets used emoji in their hashtags or were strategically edited to avoid being flagged -- behaviours also seen on accounts removed by Twitter this summer for involvement in a coordinated state-backed disinformation campaign.

Some doxxing victims have accused mainland Chinese authorities of involvement.

One pro-democracy protester told AFP he gave a "fake address I've never given to anyone" to Chinese police during a five-hour grilling at the border when returning to Hong Kong after a business trip in mainland China in August.

"The same fake address shows up on HK Leaks," he said.

China warns it won't tolerate dissent in Hong Kong
Beijing (AFP) Nov 1, 2019 - China warned Friday it would not tolerate any challenge to Hong Kong's governing system, as it laid out plans to boost patriotism in the city and change how its leader is chosen or removed after months of pro-democracy protests.

Beijing also said it would brook no foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs as it discussed the unrest in the semi-autonomous city at a major, four-day meeting of the Communist Party chaired by President Xi Jinping, according to a senior party cadre.

The central government in Beijing has so far voiced its confidence in Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and the city police to put a lid on the increasingly violent protests.

But all eyes have been on whether the party leadership will assert more control over the situation if the demonstrations spin out of control.

The former British colony has been rocked by months of protests with citizens lampooning the city's pro-Beijing leaders and erosion of basic rights.

Shen Chunyao, director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Basic Law Commission, said party leaders at the meeting in Beijing agreed to "further improve the central government's system of governance over the region" and maintain its "long-term prosperity and stability."

China, he added, would "never tolerate any act" that aims to split the country or endanger national security.

Elements of the People's Armed Police were deployed over the summer in Shenzhen, the city bordering Hong Kong, fuelling speculation that Beijing might be prepared to intervene if necessary.

The paramilitary group was seen conducting drills with assault rifles fitted with bayonets at a sports stadium in Shenzhen on Thursday.

- 'Lip service' -

Hong Kong's chief executive is not directly elected, a source of major friction and a headache for the leaders themselves because they have no popular mandate.

Currently the city's leader is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee that is stacked with Beijing loyalists.

Lam, who now boasts record low approval ratings, became leader in 2017 after securing 777 votes from that committee.

Shen said the party leaders discussed ways "to improve the mechanism of appointing and removing the chief executive and key officials of the Special Administrative Region by the central government."

The legal system of the city will also be improved to "safeguard national security," he said, without providing more details.

Veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said Beijing's comments about improving the way the city's leader is chosen is mere "lip service".

"Hong Kong people have been let down all too often on that issue so I think we can just ignore that 'improvement'," she told AFP.

"We're asking for one man, one vote, minus Beijing's interference."

Political analyst Willy Lam said the comments indicated Beijing was determined to exert "tighter control" over Hong Kong in the future.

"It's to make sure the next chief executive carries out Beijing's orders more effectively that Carrie Lam has done," he told AFP.

"It has nothing to do with democracy."

Shen said China's communist leaders want "patriots to form the main body" of those selected to govern both Hong Kong and Macau.

Beijing Wednesday expressed "approval and support" for the disqualification of Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong from upcoming local elections.

Wong, one of the most prominent figures in the otherwise leaderless pro-democracy movement, accused the Hong Kong government of "political screening" after an election officer ruled his nomination for the November poll invalid.

- Strengthening 'Patriotism' -

Lecturer Leung Kai-chi, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said changes or improvements would not help unless coupled with an increase in public trust.

"Isn't the current disaster in Hong Kong the best proof?" Leung said.

"It will be self-deceiving if the improvements do not address the recognition issue but merely reiterate the qualifications of the one chosen by the authorities."

The party elite decided this week to step up patriotic education as a way to curb youth-led protests.

Hong Kong officials and teenagers should learn about the constitution, Shen said.

The party also wants to "strengthen the national consciousness and patriotism of Hong Kong and Macau compatriots through the education of history and Chinese culture," he said.

Beijing had previously tried to beef up patriotic education in 2012, resulting in a huge backlash from Hong Kong students.

"Hong Kongers will not take this issue lying down," said Mo, referring to new moves to add Communist Party propaganda to the curriculum.

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China pushes higher 'moral quality' for its citizens
Beijing (AFP) Oct 30, 2019
From budgeting for rural weddings to dressing appropriately and avoiding online porn, China's Communist Party has issued new guidelines to improve the "moral quality" of its citizens. Officials have released several sets of guidelines this week alongside a secretive conclave of high-ranking officials in Beijing which discusses the country's future direction. On Sunday the government published its "Outline for the Implementation of Citizen Moral Construction in the New Era" - which advises reade ... read more