Two widely shared videos, claiming to show assaults on women by South Asian men in Hong Kong, were in fact captured in Malaysia and Romania.

The clips prompted an official clarification from the Hong Kong Police force on February 16, who confirmed they were not filmed in Tsim Sha Tsui and Cheung Sha Wan as had been stated in Facebook posts. Rather, the videos were captured on CCTV abroad and had been re-circulated with false captions, presumably by malicious actors seeking to stir up anger towards ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Some Hongkongers even used the video as an opportunity to criticise politicians who have spoken in defence of refugee rights, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

The case shows that sadly, Hongkongers are as vulnerable as the rest of the world when it comes to sharing disinformation on social media. But it also, perhaps more worryingly, highlights the ongoing prejudice towards South Asians in the city. Unfortunately, efforts to change attitudes towards some ethnic minorities here remains an uphill battle, partly because the society here is largely homogenous (92 per cent of residents are ethnic Chinese), with some minorities historically restricted to lower paid jobs. Even those from ethnic minority backgrounds who were born in Hong Kong and speak fluent Cantonese, continue to face barriers to achieve professional and social success here. Recent census data reveals they are disproportionally likely to be affected by poverty, in a city where property prices and the cost of living are often prohibitively high.

Excluding foreign domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines, who are not permanent residents here, Hong Kong was home to 264,000 people from ethnic minority backgrounds in 2016. South Asians (namely Indians, Nepalese and Pakistanis) were the city’s biggest ethnic minority group in that year, making up about 30 per cent of the ethnic minority population. Sadly, they regularly encounter bigoted opinions. South Asian men particularly have been shown to suffer the effects of racial profiling by the police.

Last year, a study found six in ten Chinese residents agreed Hong Kong people remained prejudiced towards ethnic minorities. But encouragingly the survey, conducted by the Education University of Hong Kong, also revealed that Hongkongers were at least becoming more sympathetic to the plight of refugees, who are given temporary homes in Hong Kong while applying for asylum in other countries.

Meanwhile, a new employers’ charter introduced by the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), signed by 20 major firms upon its launch in December last year, is certainly a positive step towards improving the situation.

But ultimately campaigners suggest government policies have failed to properly integrate ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, arguing policymakers, schools and employers must work harder to improve life for them here. Undoubtedly, changing underlying attitudes towards ethnic minority groups will take much longer, but all the evidence suggests Hong Kong needs stronger action in this area from its leaders.