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Hong Kong’s government is trying to ban a song – and get major tech firms to act as accomplices.
The tune in question is “Glory to Hong Kong,” a protest song from 2019. Apparently, Hong Kong authorities and their Beijing overlords are not yet satisfied with the level of repression they’ve already imposed, which includes absurd extremes, like jailing authors of children’s books for sedition.
Books. Songs. They clearly want to ban anything that might remind people they have rights.
To ban a song, however, Hong Kong’s authorities need tech companies to play along, because, well, this isn’t the 1970s, and they can’t just send police around to the record stores to gather up all the vinyl. The global giants involved in the streaming and sharing of music – like Apple, Google (including YouTube), Meta, Twitter, and Spotify – run the music distribution world today.
So, the Hong Kong government is seeking an injunction by the High Court of Hong Kong to ban the broadcasting and distribution of the song. If the court issues the injunction, it would require companies to remove the song from their online platforms.
And at that point, the tech companies will have to decide what to do: uphold freedom of expression or cave into China’s authoritarian demands.
Obviously, human rights groups and tech rights groups are strongly urging the companies to do the former. They need to take a stand against the Hong Kong government’s censorship.
It’s critical to understand that there’s more at stake here than just one song in one location. The move reflects the Chinese government’s expanding efforts to control information not just within its borders, but around the world.
Between July 2020 and June 2022, the Hong Kong government was responsible for 50 instances in which Meta (the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) said it was forced to remove content globally.
As my colleague and HRW’s associate Asia director Maya Wang says, “Hong Kong is at the fault line between a globally free internet and a walled-off version tightly controlled by the Chinese government.”
Hopefully, the tech companies will understand this and choose freedom over tyranny.