Cyber-bullying and young people : How Hong Kong keeps the new playground safe

The number of people using digital communication technologies and participating in networked public spheres (Twitter and Facebook) has escalated in recent years. While this digital revolution has brought immense benefits to the global society, its ability for anonymous communication, and its ability to generate, manipulate and disseminate digital information which can be accessed instantaneously and continuously has also led to an abuse of these technologies causing irreparable harm to another person's reputation and creates a record that causes serious psychological and emotional trauma. Protecting citizens from these forms of abuse is a priority of most governments. This paper provides an overview of the traditional tort remedies and a summary of the statutory schemes in Hong Kong.