An editor for local tabloid Next Magazine has claimed to have received a series of mysterious threats after he published an expose about the man supposedly responsible for a blunder on lawmaker Regina Ip’s Facebook page.
If you’re not a regular reader of your politicians’ health records, you may have missed it when lawmaker and New People Party chairperson Ip accidentally shared her HKID number on Facebook when she posted images from her colonoscopy to prove her good health, to the delight of netizens.
The page’s Facebook admin, Eric Chan, was quick to defend his boss and posted a (now-deleted) apology to the page:
“Ip’s personal information was exposed because of my serious mistake; it was distressing for her and caused her a great deal of trouble. I hereby express my solemn apology.”
The apology, along with the colonoscopy, quickly went viral, with Chan largely pegged as a scapegoat for his boss. Even fellow lawmaker James Tien from the Liberal Party decided to parody the apology on his own Facebook page:
“After I uploaded [a popular post], my good content management has caused Tien’s number of likes on Facebook to surge, causing him much distress. I hereby express my solemn apology.”
Next Magazine decided to dig deeper into Chan’s background, only to discover he was a Next Magazine ex-employee dismissed because of “severe disciplinary breaches”. According to the piece, Chan allegedly had a thing for stalking, spying on or secretly filming women, and actively shared his videos with like-minded perverts.
The editor who was in charge of the report claimed he received two anonymous WhatsApp text messages after the piece went live.
The first, sent from someone claiming to be from the Chinese state security department (sounds legit), reportedly said the reporters have “done something harmful to the country”, and demanded the team to explain in Shenzhen or “everyone shall face the consequences”, according to Ming Pao.
The second alleged text, apparently from a “minion” of Ip, as Ming Pao describes it, told him to leave Chan alone, and ominously included details about the editor’s family.
Yikes!
Photo: Next Magazine
