A Hong Kong court has dismissed the justice secretary’s request to ban the promotion of a protest song popular during the 2019 anti-government unrest.
In blocking the injunction bid, the High Court on Friday questioned the effectiveness of a ban on “Glory to Hong Kong” and suggested that the publication and distribution of the song was punishable under existing criminal law.
Justice minister Paul Lam Ting-kwok lodged the application last month in a bid to bar anyone from promoting the protest tune through “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing in any way”.
Authorities believed the ban could provide greater leverage in demanding that internet search giant Google remove content related to the song.
Legal experts have expressed concerns that foreign technology firms might ignore an order by a Hong Kong court or decline requests based on corporate values such as protection of free speech.
Jailed activist Chow Hang-tung, who was barred from joining an earlier hearing as a party, argued the injunction bid was an attempt to circumvent the proper legislative process.
She also questioned the government’s willingness to hear the views of those who cherished the song after the plaintiff’s counsel contested her participation in the case.
“I cannot see why I am obliged to obey a prohibition order which I am ineligible to oppose,” Chow said.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association, the city’s biggest group of reporters, earlier decided not to intervene in the proceedings after the justice department promised that media activity would not be targeted by the ban.
“Glory to Hong Kong” was mistakenly played instead of the Chinese national anthem “March of the Volunteers” at several overseas sports events.
After one such blunder during a rugby match in South Korea, city leader John Lee Ka-chiu ordered a police inquiry into whether any conspiracy to break the national anthem law or other local legislation was involved.
Officials have attributed the errors to top search results on Google for “Hong Kong national anthem”, but the tech giant has refused to manually manipulate its algorithm to ensure only the correct tune appears on the screen.
The anti-government song had gained traction among Hong Kong’s mostly young protesters soon after its creation in September 2019, months into that year’s social unrest triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
The song contains lyrics which authorities maintain run afoul of national security legislation, such as appeals to people to “Liberate Hong Kong” in a “revolution of our times”. The expression was found to be capable of carrying a secessionist meaning in the city’s first national security trial.
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People have been prosecuted over the performance of the protest tune in public and sharing it on social media.
The latest criminal case involved a man, 63, accused of publishing 20 offensive Facebook posts, including two featuring the protest soundtrack. He was on Thursday jailed for three months under a colonial-era sedition law.
A man, 27, received the same sentence earlier this month for violating the national anthem law by using “Glory to Hong Kong” in a video that showed a local athlete celebrating his victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
