ExclusiveSupporters of Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee accuse Google of interfering in poll after YouTube pulls his channel

Video-sharing platform, operated by Google, made the rare move of taking down Lee’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, citing need to comply with US sanctions

Lee calls move ‘disappointing’ but vows to carry on, while his supporters criticise take-down as ‘abrupt’, ‘weird’ and ‘blatant interference’ in election

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Chief executive candidate John Lee. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 2:33pm, 20 Apr 2022Updated: 9:53am, 21 Apr 2022

Online video platform YouTube cancelled Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu’s campaign channel on Wednesday as it emerged that Facebook had restricted his user status, both citing compliance with United States sanction laws but earning a rebuke from the leadership contender who accused the US of bullying.

Speaking to the media an hour after the Post exclusively reported that Google had terminated Lee’s YouTube channel, the former career police officer and security minister said he was disappointed but unfazed and, if anything, the ban had galvanised him to soldier on in his campaign for the May 8 election by a 1,454-member group of voters.

Both online platforms earlier said they had to limit Lee because he was among more than a dozen officials sanctioned by the US in 2020 for Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong.

John Lee announced his bid for the top post this month. Photo: Sam Tsang

Legal experts said the unexpected kink in Lee’s campaign on Wednesday showed how US companies had their hands tied over the broad-ranging scope of the sanctions against China, but it also reflected his team’s unpreparedness of being caught in the cross hairs of geopolitical tensions he had often warned about.

The pro-establishment bloc blamed YouTube for being overzealous and accused Google of “blatantly” meddling in the city’s election. Some members said they would learn from the candidate’s bitter experience and turn to Chinese-backed social media platforms.

Since Lee announced his bid for the top post on April 9, he has been communicating mostly online with the Election Committee filled predominantly with pro-Beijing figures and carrying the meetings on his YouTube and Facebook channels.

But a check of his YouTube page on Wednesday morning found all content removed and replaced with a message stating: “This account has been terminated for violating Google’s terms of service.”