May
2024
YouTube has blocked regional access to videos featuring the song “Glory to Hong Kong”, in compliance with a Hong Kong court granting the government’s request to ban the song, which has served as a pro-democracy protest anthem since 2019. The judges justified their decision by claiming that dissidents seeking to incite secession could weaponize the song for use against the state.
Attempts to view the song on YouTube from Hong Kong displayed the message: “This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order.” Links to the videos will also eventually vanish from Google search.
The Chinese foreign ministry said that stopping the song’s spread was necessary for Hong Kong to safeguard national security.
Summary
The court order marks another step in the deteriorating separation of powers in Hong Kong, with the judiciary now even more involved in heavy-handed government censorship. The Hong Kong government’s argument for the song’s banning on the grounds of its alleged role in inciting secession suggests a serious commitment to erasing memories of past resistance from the public. With the recent passage of Hong Kong’s new National Security Law, we will likely see an increasing trend of such digital censorship.
Analysis
