The clean look and orderly rhythm of activity in downtown Hong Kong belies the fact that just nine months ago, hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the city's center, demanding universal voting rights. Despite appearances, political and social tensions remain high today. Since October, several Hong Kong-based social media activists have been arrested and accused of violating the city-state's cyberlaws. The arrests have led local legal experts to suspect that authorities are exploiting Hong Kong's cybercrime laws in an effort to suppress political speech online. At least nine activists have been arrested for their online remarks, all charged with the debatable criminal code Section 161 which prohibits “access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent.” Three have been sentenced to either community service or time in a rehabilitation center. On 29 May, Tam Tak-chi, leader of the radical democratic coalition People Power, was arrested for posting on Facebook a comment in which he sarcastically suggested planting homemade bombs on the road of a funeral procession for Beijing loyalist Yeung Kowng. Yeung was a leader of the Hong Kong 1967 leftist riots when the pro-Beijing protesters planted both fake and real bombs in the city and burned a radio host to death after he criticized the rioters in a broadcast. Despite his criminal record, Yeung was later given the Grand Bahunia Medal, which the government issues to a citizen who has made a “highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong.” Among speakers at Yeung's funeral was Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung, who praised him for his dedication to Hong Kong society. Responding to Chief Executive Leung's speech, Tam wrote: 盒盒寫住『土製菠蘿，同胞勿近』的東西放在它靈車路上，是否很匹配呢？一打開，有嘢爆的，party禮炮…… Boxes with the words “homemade pineapples [euphemism for bombs], stay away, comrades” written on them, put on the road as the hearse passes by. Will that be a good match? [referring to Yeung's bombing tactic during the riot in 1967] When opened, boom! Confetti cannons for the party… Tam was arrested shortly thereafter, but later released on bail. His allies believe the arrest was intended to warn him not to participate in a vigil held last week commemorating the 4 June 1989 massacre on Tiananmen Square, or any activities surrounding the Legislative Council’s upcoming vote on reforms to the controversial electoral process in Hong Kong, which sparked protests that peaked last September. Two days prior to Tam's arrest, Barry Ma, chairman of a local pro-independence group known as Orchid Gardening, was arrested for suggesting on Facebook that the entire family of a local news columnist “should be exterminated”. In local parlance, this can also be understood to mean “should go to hell”. The columnist had defended police authorities in a scandal that revealed that police had coerced an autistic man into confessing to manslaughter in a case in which an elderly man was found beaten to death. Hong Kong Central, September 2014. Photo by Flickr user Pasu Au Yeung. CC BY 2.0 Both groups implicated here are famous for their disruptive tactics and clashes with the authorities. Tam Tak-chi was a leading force protests in the Mong Kok section of Hong Kong and was arrested at the height of the demonstration. Barry Ma's Orchid Gardening is part of a nascent localism movement which has organised street protests against mainland travelers and senior government officials. Both groups strongly oppose the official proposal on electoral reform, which would deeply undermine the intentions of the Occupy Central movement. The Legislative Council will begin deliberations on the policy on 17 June. Data on these and other arrests is publicly accessible in a database maintained by Hong Kong Transparency Report, an independent research project launched in June 2014 at the University of Hong Kong. The police stressed in several official statements following these arrests that the Internet environment is not a lawless world, and that the majority of laws in the real world are also applicable online. Critics argue the authorities are exploiting the ambiguity of Hong Kong Crimes Ordinance Section 161 which criminalizes “access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent” in an effort to repress political activists’ speech on the Internet. Section 161 has a lower threshold for prosecution than more substantial offenses such as ‘illegal’ assembly, criminal intimidation, and police assault.