With the forthcoming fifth anniversary of the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law and the commencement of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance upon gazettal in March 2024, the Department of Justice and the Security Bureau, with the Education Bureau as the supporting organisation, are jointly hosting a social media post competition on this remarkable occasion. Primary and secondary students in Hong Kong are now invited to unleash their boundless creativity by producing social media posts (“SMP”) on the theme of “Hong Kong National Security Law – Safeguards and Hopes” to convey vividly the messages of how the relevant laws firmly fortify our defence in safeguarding national security, and how they safeguard social stability and people’s livelihood with the rule of law principles, thereby bringing to all sectors and members of the community new opportunities and new hopes for a more bountiful and vibrant future.
| (a) | All students attending primary schools (P4 or above) and secondary schools (including special schools) in Hong Kong may participate in the Competition. | |
| (b) | Three divisions are open for entry: | |
| (i) | Primary division (P4 to P6 students); | |
| (ii) | Junior secondary division (S1 to S3 students); and | |
| (iii) | Senior secondary division (S4 to S6 students). | |
| For students attending schools of any different academic structure, their entry divisions will be determined by the Organisers upon consideration of the existing divisions and the relevant academic structures. | ||
| (c) | A student may participate either individually or in team with other students but is not allowed to participate both individually and in team (or in more than one team). Otherwise, the Organisers will require the student to confirm his/her modes of entry. | |
| (d) | For team entries, the students within the team must be from the same school, and each team must consist of no more than five members. | |
| (e) | Student may enter the Competition under teachers’ guidance. | |
| (f) | Entries must be submitted through the schools that the students are attending. | |
| (a) | The contents of the SMP must be relevant to the theme. |
| (b) | Entries must be in the form of an SMP with motion images and uploadable to social media. The contents may be expressed by way of a story, documentary, a song, animation, slide show or any other forms of expression which may effectively bring out their key messages and present their stories. |
| (c) | For messages conveyed by text, the contents must be presented primarily in Chinese (Cantonese or Putonghua) and/or English. |
| (d) | The SMPs must not be more than 2 minutes in length. |
| (e) | All SMPs must be original works created by the participants and have never entered other competitions or been published at other platforms or events. |
| (f) | Entries must not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. Where use of copyright materials is necessary, the participants must obtain consent from the copyright owners and include proper citations of the sources of information and materials in the SMPs to ensure that the SMPs submitted shall not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights. If an SMP is shortlisted for final assessment, the participants must submit to the Organisers the reference materials and documentary proof that the consent of the relevant copyright owners has been obtained. |
| (a) | All SMPs must be submitted by schools. Each school may submit no more than three entries per division. |
| (b) | If for a division, a school has received more than three works from its students, it must first select three entries for submission and may opt whether or not to submit relevant information for the remaining works. If it opts to submit the relevant information, such information must include the details required in the enrolment form (e.g. the work’s title and outline, and the student’s name and class level) for the purpose of calculating school participation rate (for details see paragraph 6 – Awards). |
| (c) | Each participating school must complete an enrolment form and sign a declaration, and provide in the enrolment form the links to the respective SMPs (“entry link”) (e.g. the link to the relevant social media where the SMPs have been uploaded). The enrolment form and the declaration will be available for downloading from the Competition webpage. |
| (d) | Completed enrolment forms (including entry links) and declarations must be submitted to the Organisers on or before 11 April 2025 (Friday) by e-mail addressed to “smp_competition@doj.gov.hk”. Submissions by other means will not be accepted. Late submissions will not be considered. Declarations must be signed by school principals and stamped with the school chops; otherwise, the enrolment will be rejected. |
| (e) | Each participating school may enrol and submit entries to the Organisers only once per division. No modification or replacement of entries is allowed after submission. |
| (a) | Entries will be judged according to the following criteria: |
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Content (relevance to the theme, participant’s understanding of the theme, richness of content) | 40% |
| Presentation (stylistic consistency with the theme, whether the SMP is interesting, overall coherence) | 20% |
| Technicalities (sound and visual effects, aesthetics) | 20% |
| Originality and creativity | 20% |
| (b) | Judges will first draw a preliminary shortlist from entries of each division. The shortlisted entries will then be subject to final adjudication by a panel of professional judges, who will select the champion, first runner-up, second runner-up and merit award winners for the division. |
| (c) | Instructors (if any) of the champion, first runner-up and second runner-up in each division will be awarded the “Outstanding Instructor Awards”. |
| (d) | The shortlisted entries of each division will be uploaded to an online platform for public voting on their most favourite post. The top vote-getter will be awarded the “Most Popular Award”. |
| (e) | As an encouragement to schools and students for active participation, for each division, the “Best Participation School Award” will be awarded to the school with the highest ratio of participating students to total student population. |
| (a) | The results of the Competition will be announced on the Competition webpage around mid-2025. The schools of the winners will be notified by email of the award details and be invited to the award presentation ceremony. For each division, the Competition awards include: |
| Award | Number of awardees per division (Primary, junior secondary and senior secondary) | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 1 individual/team | $3,000 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| First Runner-up | 1 individual/team | $2,000 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| Second Runner-up | 1 individual/team | $1,500 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| Merit Awards | 5 individuals/teams | $500 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| Outstanding Instructor Awards | See para. 5(c) for details | $300 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| Most Popular Award (By public voting) | 1 individual/team | $2,000 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| Best Participation School Award | 1 school | $2,000 book coupons and certificate of appreciation |
| (b) | Winners will have the chance to get other fabulous prizes. |
| (c) | The award presentation ceremony will tentatively be held at the National Security Legal Forum on 21 June 2025, where the winning entries will get to be showcased. The Legal Forum will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. |
| (d) | All winning entries will be uploaded to public platforms. |
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| 11 April 2025 | Deadline for submission of enrolment form (together with entry links and declaration) |
| Mid-2025(Exact date to be announced) | Announcement of results on the Competition webpage |
| 21 June 2025 (tentatively) | Award presentation ceremony |
| By entering the Competition, a participant (including the student, the teacher, the principal and the school) of an entry is treated to have accepted the following Terms and Conditions: | |
| (a) | The Organisers reserve the right to amend the Competition rules, and suspend or terminate the Competition at any time. Any such changes will be announced on the Competition webpage without prior notice. |
| (b) | The personal data provided by the participants will be used by the Organisers for the purposes of the Competition only. The data will be kept in confidence and destroyed within 12 months after the award presentation ceremony. |
| (c) | Upon submission of an entry, a participant is deemed to have authorised the Organisers to use, copy, edit, adapt, distribute, disseminate or display in any form and on various platforms (including but not limited to websites, social media and any other platforms accessible to the public such as at public venues or public transport) without obtaining prior permission from the participant and without offering any compensation in any form to the participant. |
| (d) | Once an entry is submitted, no modification of the contents or the participants’ information is allowed. |
| (e) | The decisions of the assessment panels shall be final. |
| (f) | Participating schools, teachers and students must ensure that their entries do not include any information or content that is obscene, abusive, violent, defamatory or otherwise, are not or would not be contrary to the interest of national security, and shall not violate the laws of Hong Kong (including laws and regulations relating to national security and intellectual property rights). Otherwise, the participants will be disqualified. |
| (g) | The Organisers reserve the right to reject any entries or disqualify any participants without giving particular reasons. |
| (h) | Unless otherwise agreed, the Organisers will not subject any entry to commercial use. |
| (i) | The Organisers reserve the right to verify the identity of the winners and ask the winners for proof of identity. Failure by a winner to provide relevant identification documents may result in cancellation of any award to the winner. |
| (j) | The Organisers reserve the right to interpret these Guidelines and Rules, and such interpretation shall be final and conclusive. |
| Purpose of Collection | ||
| (1) | The personal data collected in the enrolment forms and the declarations will be used by the Organisers for the following purposes only: | |
| (a) | registration of the submission of entries and verification of the eligibility of participants; | |
| (b) | correspondence and communication with the entrants; | |
| (c) | announcement of the results of the Competition, award of the prizes relating to the Competition, and winners’ participation in the relevant events held by the Organisers; and | |
| (d) | other purposes prescribed in these Guidelines and Rules or relating to the Competition. | |
| (2) | The provision of personal data required by these Guidelines and Rules, the application form and the declaration, and during the processing of the enrolments by the Organisers, is obligatory. In the event that a participant does not provide such personal data, the Organisers may not be able to handle or further process his/her enrolment. | |
| Classes of Transferees | ||
| (3) | The personal data provided by the participants will be made available to the personnel of the Organisers and may be transferred or disclosed to the parties or in the circumstances listed below: | |
| (a) | supporting organisations, contractors and all government departments, other organisations and units providing assistance to this Competition or related matters, for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (1) above; | |
| (b) | where the participants have given their prescribed consent to such disclosure; and | |
| (c) | where such disclosure is authorised or required under the law or court order applicable to Hong Kong. | |
| Access to Personal Data | ||
| (4) | A participant has the right to request access to and correction of one’s personal data held by the Organisers. Request for access or correction of personal data should be made by email to the Access to Information Officer of the department concerned – Senior Executive Officer (Administration and Staff Relations): dojinfo@doj.gov.hk | |
| Organisers: | Department of Justice and Security Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China |
| Supporting Organisation: | Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China |