Hong Kong court rejects request to ban protest song

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong judge on Friday denied a government request to ban a popular protest song in a landmark decision after Google resisted official pressure to alter internet search results for the city’s anthem.

The development was a setback for Hong Kong leaders who are trying to crush a pro-democracy movement. They have been embarrassed when “Glory to Hong Kong” — written during mass protests against the government in 2019 — was mistakenly played at international sporting events instead of China’s national anthem, “March of the Volunteers.”

Critics have warned that granting the request to prohibit broadcast or distribution of the song would add to a decline in civil liberties since Beijing launched a crackdown following the 2019 protests. They said that might disrupt internet companies and hurt the city’s appeal as a business center.

But some analysts cautioned that the court’s decision on Friday does not mean foreign tech giants can now let down their guard in Hong Kong, and they said political challenges surrounding their operations in the financial hub still linger.

Judge Anthony Chan said he considered whether a ban on the song would act as a wider deterrence than the city’s criminal law already in place. That includes a National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 under which many of the city’s leading activists have been arrested.

The government went to court after Google resisted pressure to display China’s national anthem as the top result in searches for the city’s anthem instead of “Glory to Hong Kong.”

Google had asked that a ruling prove the song violated the law before it could be removed, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong told a local broadcaster earlier. Google did not reply to a request for comment on its earlier exchanges with officials.

The city’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, told reporters he had asked government lawyers to study the judgment and decide how to respond.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised that it could keep its Western-style civil liberties intact. But the security law and other changes since the 2019 protests have shrunk the openness and freedoms that were once hallmarks of the city.

The city’s secretary for justice sought the injunction last month after the song was mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international events. And a mix-up in an ice hockey competition in February resulted in the city’s top sports body reprimanding the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association, which appealed for forgiveness for what it called an “independent and unfortunate” event.

In seeking the court order, the government wanted to target anyone who uses the song to advocate for the separation of Hong Kong from China. It also sought to ban actions that use the song to insult the national anthem.