Popular versions of ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ protest song disappear from music streaming platforms

Google’s YouTube only streaming platform where versions of ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ as produced by creator still available
Government says those who object to protest song injunction application can obtain relevant documents at Wan Chai police station before June 21

Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Kahon Chan

Published: 3:00pm, 14 Jun 2023

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Popular versions of a Hong Kong protest song have disappeared from a number of leading music streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify, as the government seeks a court ban on promoting the tune.

Google’s YouTube was the only streaming platform where versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” as produced by the creator were available, a check on Wednesday found. In addition to Apple and Spotify, Taiwan’s KKBox and Hong Kong’s Moov streaming services also removed the tune.

The government is seeking to ban promotion of the tune, which organisers of several overseas sports events have wrongly played instead of “March of the Volunteers” after relying on the top results of a Google search for “Hong Kong national anthem”.

The California-based tech giant refused an earlier request by the government to alter the results, saying they were determined by an algorithm, which prompted a warning by Beijing that the company had an obligation to disseminate correct information.

Authorities publicised on Wednesday a writ of summons and other documents related to the proposed ban ahead of a hearing scheduled for July 21. Anyone who objects to the application for the injunction can obtain the relevant documents at the Wan Chai police station before June 21 and file their opposition in writing within seven days.

The song soared in popularity after news of the government’s move emerged, with several versions topping a list of most-played songs in Hong Kong on Apple Music last week. But a Post search for the song’s Chinese title on the platform on Wednesday showed only a Hokkien recording of the tune by Taiwanese rock band The Chairman.

Switching the IP address to locations outside Hong Kong gave the same result.

No song was shown under the page of creator “ThomasDGX & HongKongers”, who had earlier released different versions of the tune, including the widely circulated Cantonese and instrumental ones.

The song’s creator said they were handling technical issues unrelated to streaming platforms, and apologised for the temporary service disruption. It was not was immediately clear what the technical issues were related to.

Different versions of the tune topped a list of most-played songs on streaming service Apple Music last week. Photo: Handout

Unlike Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Apple has a considerable market presence in mainland China. The three variations of Apple’s iPhone 13 were the top-three selling smartphones on the mainland in 2022, according to a March report by market research firm Counterpoint.

In the same year, the company removed 1,435 mobile apps from its online store upon takedown demands by the mainland authorities, compared with 14 removed upon government request in India.

The injunction would target anyone who intends to incite others to separate Hong Kong from the country, commit a seditious act or insult “March of the Volunteers”.

The writ asked the court to restrain those harbouring criminal intent from “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing” the song “in any way”.

Government lawyers told a court on Monday the ban would not target “the world at large” but only those “conducting the prohibited acts now and intending to conduct such acts”.

But legal experts have questioned the ability and willingness of Google and other US-based tech giants to comply with any order and an association representing internet service providers in the city has expressed concerns over responsibility for enforcing the ban.

A screengrab of a YouTube video for “Glory to Hong Kong”. Photo: YouTube

Google and Meta last week said they would not comment on the application. Melbourne-based lawyer Kevin Yam Kin-fung, ex-convenor of the now-disbanded Progressive Lawyers Group, earlier predicted that potential opponents would likely be deterred by the “prevailing political climate” and not come forward.

Hong Kong’s national security law, imposed by Beijing in June 2020, bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. In the city’s first trial under the legislation in 2021, the expression “revolution of our times”, which was included in the lyrics of “Glory to Hong Kong”, was found to be capable of carrying a secessionist meaning.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung last Saturday said that the government was seeking the court order because the current legal mechanisms could not fully tackle problems brought on by the tune, but he did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, dissident Wu’er Kaixi, who fled the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing in 1989, on Wednesday briefly transited through Hong Kong International Airport as he flew back to Taiwan from a trip that covered Ukraine and India.

He took a selfie in the airport’s departure area that he uploaded in a Facebook post featuring the hashtag “Glory to Hong Kong”. He later added a photo of Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport with the caption “Home!”.

The former student activist had attempted to enter Hong Kong in November 2013, but was denied entry and returned to Taiwan after four hours of questioning by immigration officers.