A Hong Kong court on Wednesday accepted a government request to ban a popular pro-democracy anthem, raising further concerns about free speech in the city.
The decision, which overturned an initial ruling, could give the government power to force Google and other tech companies to restrict online access to the song in Hong Kong. The decision threatens to deepen anxiety over the city’s status as an international gateway to China, far from its censorship controls.
The song at issue in the case is “Glory to Hong Kong,” which emerged in 2019 as an unofficial anthem for democracy protests and a flashpoint for authorities, who considered it an insult to China’s national anthem. The song has been banned in Hong Kong schools and has drawn angry official reprimands when it is played, apparently by mistake, at international sporting events.
Beijing has asserted greater control over the former British colony in recent years by imposing a national security law that has crushed almost all forms of dissent. People convicted of posting seditious content online have gone to prison.
Lin Jian, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference that the court’s verdict was a “legitimate and necessary measure by Hong Kong to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to safeguard national security and the dignity of the national anthem.” “.
In March, the Hong Kong government enacted new security legislation that criminalized crimes such as “external interference” and theft of state secrets, creating potential risks for multinational companies operating in the Asian financial hub.
In the “Glory to Hong Kong” case, a lower court judge ruled against the government last July, warning that an injunction against the song would cause a “chilling effect” in Hong Kong.
But in overturning that decision, three appeals judges said Wednesday that the anthem was a “weapon” that could be used to undermine national security.
“It has the effect of justifying and even romanticizing and glorifying the illegal and violent acts inflicted on Hong Kong in recent years, arousing and rekindling strong emotions and the desire for violent confrontations,” the court wrote.
The petition does not name any company or individual, but lists 32 links to “Glory to Hong Kong” videos on YouTube or its sister company, Google.
The government’s injunction, the court said, was “necessary to persuade” the technology companies to “remove” the songs from their platforms.
A Google representative said the company was reviewing the court ruling and declined to comment further.
Analysts said the verdict could force YouTube to make the song unavailable in Hong Kong. It could also force Google to ensure that videos about “Glory to Hong Kong” no longer appear in search results.
Lokman Tsui, a researcher in Amsterdam at The Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog group, said the court was wrong to describe the song as a legitimate threat to national security.
“For expression to be censored or infringed on national security grounds, you have to be able to demonstrate intent and harm, and that the solutions being proposed are the least restrictive,” said Tsui, former Asia and Asia free expression chief. the Pacific on Google. He added that he did not consider the evidence presented as legitimate threats to national security.
After Google rejected a public request from the government to remove the song in December 2022, Hong Kong’s security chief called the company’s decision “unthinkable.”
Like most technology companies, Google has a policy of removing or restricting access to material that a court considers illegal in certain countries or locations.
In recent years, requests from Hong Kong authorities to tech companies to remove content have skyrocketed. But the city’s Internet, unlike mainland China, has remained largely free of government control.
Facebook and Twitter were blocked in mainland China in 2009. A year later, Google shut down its services in China and redirected users to its search engine in Hong Kong, then a bastion of political freedom on Chinese soil.
Amy Chang-Chien contributed with reports.