Protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ YouTube clips still blocked despite US lawmaker pressure
- Song’s producer, Dgxmusic, says tune removed once again from music platforms by New York-based distributor DistroKid ‘without explanation’
Access to certain YouTube clips of a banned Hong Kong protest anthem remained blocked for users in the city on Thursday despite a call from US lawmakers to lift the restrictions, with legal experts noting the streaming platform faces practical difficulties in meeting the demand.
In a related development, the production team behind “Glory to Hong Kong”, Dgxmusic, said the tune was again removed from music platforms by New York-based distributor DistroKid “without explanation”.
A check by the Post on Thursday evening found versions of the tune released by Dgxmusic were no longer available on Apple Music, Spotify and KKBox.
Versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” had made a brief comeback on various platforms in late May, days after the previous distributor, Scottish-based Emubands, decided to pull the plug on the tunes citing prohibitively high legal costs associated with a Hong Kong appeal court injunction that sought to restrict the song’s circulation.
Dgxmusic said on Instagram that the two contributors’ compliance of the injunction was “extremely concerning” as the order had no extraterritorial effect, calling the takedowns “in violation of basic human rights” and posing “a severe threat to the fundamental principles of Western democracies”.
The Post has contacted DistroKid for comment.