In seeking the court order, the government wanted to target anyone who uses the song to advocate for the separation of Hong Kong from China. And a mix-up in an ice hockey competition in February resulted in the city’s top sports body reprimanding the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association, which appealed for forgiveness for what it called an “independent and unfortunate” event. The city’s secretary for justice sought the injunction last month after the song was mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international events. But the security law and other changes since the 2019 protests have shrunk the openness and freedoms that were once hallmarks of the city. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised that it could keep its Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years after the handover. The city’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, told reporters he had asked government lawyers to study the judgment and decide how to respond. Google did not reply to a request for comment on its earlier exchanges with officials. Google had asked that a ruling prove the song violated the law before it could be removed, Hong Kong's Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong told a local broadcaster earlier. The government went to the court after Google resisted pressure to display China’s national anthem as the top result in searches for the city’s anthem instead of “Glory to Hong Kong.” “I cannot be satisfied that it is just and convenient to grant the injunction,” he wrote in a ruling. That includes a National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 under which many of the city's leading activists have been arrested. Judge Anthony Chan said he considered whether a ban of the song would act as a wider deterrence than the city’s criminal law already in place. They said that might disrupt internet companies and hurt the city’s appeal as a business center.īut some analysts cautioned the court’s decision on Friday does not mean that foreign tech giants can from now on let down their guard in Hong Kong, and said that political challenges surrounding their operations in the financial hub still linger. They have been embarrassed when “Glory to Hong Kong" - written during mass protests against the government in 2019 - was mistakenly played at international sporting events instead of China's national anthem, “March of the Volunteers.”Ĭritics have warned that granting the request to prohibit broadcast or distribution of the song would add to a decline in civil liberties since Beijing launched a crackdown following the 2019 protests. The development was a setback for Hong Kong leaders who are trying to crush a pro-democracy movement. HONG KONG - A Hong Kong judge on Friday denied a government request to ban a popular protest song in a landmark decision after Google had resisted official pressure to alter internet search results for the city's anthem.
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