Police in Hong Kong can now demand phone and computer passwords under amended national security law

Refusing to comply could lead to up to one year in jail and a hefty fine, while providing false or misleading information carries up to three years in prison

Hong Kong police can now demand that people suspected of breaching the city’s national security law provide mobile phone or computer passwords in a further crackdown on dissent.

The amendments to the law also empower customs officers to seize items that are deemed to have “seditious intention”, regardless of whether any person has been arrested for an offence endangering national security because of the items.