After “Glory to Hong Kong” emerged as the unofficial anthem of pro-democracy demonstrators in 2019, the Hong Kong government tried to prevent its use. It banned the song from schools. When it was played last year instead of the Chinese national anthem at a rugby match in South Korea, the Hong Kong government called for an investigation.
This week, authorities asked the court to ban the public performance and online dissemination of “Glory to Hong Kong.” The move could catch US technology companies like Google on the back foot and set up the first legal test of how much control the Hong Kong government can exercise over online content.
Hong Kong seeks to ban the distribution or reproduction of the song “in any form,” including adaptations of its “melody or lyrics,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday. It said the song was used to “insult” China’s national anthem, “The March of the Volunteers,” which caused “serious damage to the country” and to Hong Kong. A date has not been set for the court to hear the request.
The Hong Kong authorities previously criticized Google for showing the protest song under search results for Hong Kong’s national anthem.
“We have already sent a request to Google to pin the correct national anthem, but, unfortunately, Google refused,” Chris Tang, Hong Kong’s security secretary, said at a news conference in December. “I think this explanation is unthinkable, and the people of Hong Kong will not tolerate it.”
The government’s request for a court order against the protest song, made on Monday, is Hong Kong’s latest attempt to stamp out remaining vestiges of political dissent in the city, a former British colony that once enjoyed more that political autonomy. Under Chinese president Xi Jinping, Hong Kong has undergone a drastic transformation from its days as a thriving center for foreign businesses to a frontier in Beijing’s campaign to safeguard national security.
Last week, an annual vigil held on the anniversary of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square was shut down by officials, who arrested and detained protesters and suspected mourners.
In applying for a court injunction against the Hong Kong protest anthem, the government cited its national security law, which was enacted in 2020 and gives Beijing broad powers to crack down on what it considers political crimes, including separatism and conspiracy.
If granted, a court order would likely make content moderation in Hong Kong more complicated and expensive for US tech companies, said George Chen, managing director for Asia Group, a consulting firm. and former head of public policy for Greater China at Meta. He said the government’s decision to use the courts was “opening the floodgates.”
“Glory to Hong Kong” can be seen in Hong Kong on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by Meta, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
According to Ming Paoa centrist Chinese-language newspaper, the court application cited 32 YouTube links related to the song.
Google and Meta declined to comment. Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.
US technology companies generally follow the rules of the countries and regions in which they operate and, sometimes, remove content. The potential scope of an injunction in Hong Kong is unclear. Critics say the national security law was written with a view to police behavior even outside of Hong Kong.
“Anyone in the world can violate Hong Kong’s national security law,” said Lokman Tsui, former head of free expression for Asia Pacific at Google. “The question is whether this order is similar in scope.”
Refusing to comply with a Hong Kong court ruling could put the company’s staff and business in the region at risk, Mr. Tsui added.
So far, efforts to suppress the song appear to have sparked a wave of interest in it: As of Wednesday, eight different versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” topped the iTunes singles charts in Hong Kong.
For years, even though China has been largely closed to foreign internet companies, Hong Kong has remained an exception – a hub where foreign businesses can operate relatively free of censorship controls that they be dealt with on the mainland.
The Hong Kong government’s increasing efforts to ban speech could damage the city’s image as a financial and economic hub for China and Asia, said Willy Lam, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a think tank in Washington.
“We’ve seen a lot of multinational businesses move their staff to Singapore and other places,” Mr. Lam said. “Today there are fewer multinationals choosing to base themselves in Hong Kong.”
“This is another nail in the coffin for Hong Kong,” he added.
Joy Dong contributed reporting.
