Lee vows to fight fake news if elected to LegCo

HONG KONG - Dominic Lee Tsz-king on Saturday vowed to "get Hong Kong back on track" by using the power of social media to debunk fake news and opposition propaganda.

The new member of New People's Party is eyeing for a seat in the New Territories East constituency in his second bid to enter the Legislative Council. He said, if elected, he would seize the discourse power in the legislature to restrain the opposition from misleading the Hong Kong public.

Lee lost his District Council seat in the upper middle-class constituency of Yau Yat Tsuen last year.

But the loss also made him reflect that the pro-establishment bloc in Hong Kong needed to develop better campaign materials to win over voters.

In one key example, radical lawmakers bombarded citizens with false propaganda and misled them into believing blatant rumors such as those claiming protesters were killed in the Prince Edward MTR station, Lee said. He said such propaganda needs to be combatted.

"If the pro-establishment camp continues with their current publicity strategies, we would not be able to earn more support from the voters, no matter how many more livelihood issues we address," Lee added.

Lee said a LegCo seat and his strong social media presence would allow him to rally the pro-establishment forces and turn the tide to win the battle of ideas.

He said the online platform "KOL100" has already accumulated 230,000 subscribers since its launch in December 2019, indicating that Hong Kong people no longer tolerate biased media coverage.

"We are also showing our international audience the truth of Hong Kong," he said, adding that the reach is not just limited to local residents.

So far 10 other candidates have filed nomination papers for the New Territories East constituency seat - Gary Chan Hak-kan, Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan, Lam Hak-lam, Chan Yuk-ngor, Wong Siu-kin, Ventus Lau Wing-hong, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and Fan Kwok-wai.

A total of 70 seats are open on the LegCo with the nomination period ending on July 31. The Registration and Electoral Office has received 81 nomination forms as of Saturday.