Lawmaker questions internet freedom in Macau New Neighbourhood

Concerns over access to the internet in Macau New Neighbourhood in the Cooperation Zone in Hengqin have led lawmaker Leong Hong Sai to present a spoken inquiry to the government.

In the inquiry, the directly elected lawmaker with links to the Macau General Union of Neighborhood Associations said that the Chief Executive (CE) has promised the people that if they moved to the new neighborhood across the border, they would get similar living conditions and freedoms as those they enjoy in Macau, a promise that he now says, seems difficult to fulfill.

According to the lawmaker and citing a response to an inquiry he made to the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau, the only way the residents of Macau can have access to open internet services without the restrictions enforced in the mainland is by subscribing to a mobile service that includes roaming for three areas (Macau, Hong Kong, and mainland China) and that is restricted to mobile phone networks, without the possibility of a fiberoptic service to homes under the same conditions.

“Macau residents have had a different internet and communication model for a long time, likely, an internet service similar to the one existing in Macau will not be implemented,” he said, recalling that, in 2021, the CE stated that “residents of the Cooperation Zone were going to be protected in the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, without ‘VPN’ (Virtual Private Network).”

Leong also listed several mobile communication applications commonly used in Macau such as WhatsApp, LINE, SNAPCHAT, Telegram and Twitter, that would be available for the residents in Macau who decide to move to the Cooperation Zone.