Editorial | Bid to police internet is a fool’s errand
- The authorities are right to worry about the protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong”, but attempts to ban it from global platforms such as YouTube are like trying to catch your own tail
The US video sharing platform YouTube, complying with a Hong Kong court order, has begun the process of barring access to the 2019 protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” for viewers within the city, though many versions remain easily available and some “backup” versions were being uploaded.
The song called for Hongkongers to fight for freedom and used the slogan “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”. Authorities deemed that slogan to carry a secessionist meaning in the first national security trial in 2021.
Secession under the Beijing-imposed law is an offence with a penalty of up to life in prison.
The song once topped search results for “Hong Kong national anthem” on Google, has been misrepresented as the city’s anthem, and was played mistakenly at international sporting events in 2022 and 2023 instead of the Chinese anthem, “March of the Volunteers”.
Talks with Google, YouTube’s owner, to ensure the Chinese anthem appeared as a top search result for key words failed. So the government obtained a sweeping court injunction banning illegal dissemination of the song.
In June 2023, it petitioned the court to prevent criminal use of the anti-government song and listing 32 versions of it that could be found in breach of the injunction.
