Since the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" came into effect on July 1, 2020, there have been media reports that Hong Kong Public Libraries and school libraries have removed books and periodicals from their shelves, and Hong Kong Correctional Services has also listed some books and periodicals as banned books.
Complaints or reports have been made by some organizations that some books and periodicals were suspected of violating the law, resulting in the distributors and publishers being convicted and imprisoned.
[8] Some scholars believe that the government's current approach violates the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto[9] which states that "collections and services should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor commercial pressures".
[16] The situation is consistent with the means the Hong Kong government and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government of China have banned universities from Taiwan coming to Hong Kong to participate in the Taiwan Education Exhibition in 2023.
[17][18][19] There were reports that some Hong Kong government schools have suspended the e-book platform (HyRead) service of Hyweb Technology Co. Ltd. from Taiwan, and canceled the online reading platforms for Chinese and English subjects to prevent teachers and students from accessing content that might be violated the National Security Law and the Basic Law.