Hong Kong Student Sentenced to Two Months for Pro-Independence Social Media Posts Made in Japan

First Hong Konger Convicted Under Colonial-era Sedition Law for Online Speech in Japan, Stoking Fears Over Global Curbs on Freedom of Speech

Mika Yuen, a 23-year-old student from Hong Kong, has been sentenced to two months in prison for publishing 13 pro-independence social media posts while studying in Japan, marking the first known conviction of a Hong Konger under the colonial-era sedition law for online speech created abroad.
Yuen pled guilty in late October, with most of the posts written during her time studying in Japan, and only two posts were published in Hong Kong; she was arrested in March upon returning to the city to renew her identity card.
The defense initially disputed the court's extraterritorial jurisdiction over posts published abroad but later abandoned this argument as the content remained online.
There has been an international outcry over this case, with scholars and activists claiming it represents an alarming rise in global curbs on free speech and an escalation of the chilling effect experienced by those still interacting with Hong Kong affairs.
Hong Kong's use of its sedition law, which allows for a maximum of two years imprisonment, to convict Yuen has provoked further concern as the law is not listed among the offenses criminalized by Beijing’s imposed national security law, but it has been classified by the Court of Final Appeal as an act endangering national security.