Hong Kong lawyer warns against doxxing after AIA employee suspended over mall brawl

A lawyer has warned internet users in Hong Kong against exposing personal information of others on social media or risk committing the criminal offence of doxxing, after an insurance firm suspended an employee who was revealed to be allegedly involved in a brawl at a Kwun Tong shopping centre.

Insurance service provider AIA on Thursday reportedly suspended an employee who was linked to a viral dispute among three women at a children’s play area the previous day.

The trio was charged with fighting in a public place, while the suspected AIA staff member’s elderly mother faces an additional count of common assault.

The woman and her 68‑year‑old mother were seen in a viral video of the brawl at APM mall in Kwun Tong on Wednesday, with netizens screen-grabbing and sharing their faces.

Internet users also exposed and widely circulated the 34-year-old woman’s personal details, such as her name, her profession, and the account details of her social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the AIA office address where she worked.

Lawyer Vincent Chong Yip-fung warned that social media users risk committing the criminal offence of doxxing by disclosing others’ personal information and causing them harm.