Hong Kongers are scrambling to download a popular protest song after the Chinese territorial government applied for a court injunction that could force US tech giants such as Google and Meta to block access.
“Glory to Hong Kong,” written in 2019 and quickly embraced by the city’s pro-democracy protest movement, topped the local iTunes chart for two consecutive days this week, despite warnings from pro-Beijing politicians to remove it from their devices.
The government filing on Monday cited 32 YouTube videos that could now be blocked and deemed “inflammatory.”
The song, which was also uploaded to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, was repeatedly mistakenly played at international sporting events instead of the Chinese national anthem “March of the Volunteers”, drawing condemnation from the Hong Kong government.
Beijing launched a sweeping crackdown on demonstrations in 2019 and implemented a national security law in 2020 that threatens life sentences for broadly defined crimes such as “subversion” and “collusion with foreign forces.”
Activists have fled or been imprisoned, school curricula have been overhauled for patriotic content, public libraries have removed sensitive titles from their collections, and independent media outlets have been forced to cease operations.
“I want to keep a record,” said a local resident in her 20s who downloaded the song on Wednesday after learning of the government’s court request. “I’m more worried about whether big companies will succumb to this.”
The government filing reignites growing liability concerns about foreign technology companies operating in Hong Kong as the city seeks to restore its status as a global financial hub.
“Tech companies like Google and Meta don’t have many options at hand to deal with court injunctions,” said George Chen, Meta’s former head of public policy for Greater China and now managing director of Hong Kong and Taiwan for its Asia group. Washington think tank.
“They can fully comply, or partially comply, or ignore,” Chen added. “Partial compliance usually means that you only block certain content for local users,” which is known as “geo-blocking.”
YouTube parent Google and Facebook parent Meta declined requests for comment. Apple and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.
Hong Kong’s High Court will hold a hearing on the government’s request on Monday.
The city’s leader, John Lee, has been urging Google for months to change its search results to rank the Chinese national anthem above “Glory to Hong Kong”. Google refuses to do so.
According to an injunction application filed this week, the song’s “melody or lyrics or combination” will be banned to avoid “inciting others to divide the country”.
The composer of the song, named after the initial T, told the Financial Times in 2019 that the song was written to a “spiritual…”. . . to strengthen their (protestors) will”.
Its lyrics include the line: “Dawn, liberate our Hong Kong. Breathe out together: Revolution of our time!”, a protest slogan deemed illegal by the Hong Kong government.
“Ideas, they’re bulletproof,” T said.
Lawyer Ken KC Lee said even blowing the whistle would have legal implications if the ban is approved. “It will be a sweeping move,” he said.
Last year, a harmonica player was arrested after playing “Glory to Hong Kong” at a mourning event outside the British consulate for the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Chen, a former Meta executive, raised the prospect of legal consequences for local offices and employees of the US tech giant. “It’s no longer ‘business as usual’ for tech companies in Hong Kong,” he said.