HONG KONG: YouTube said on Wednesday that it will obey a Hong Kong court order to restrict access to videos featuring a protest song amid alarms concerning free speech in the city.
Last week, the appeal court of Hong Kong granted the government’s request for an injunction against “Glory to Hong Kong”, an anthem which was born out of the city’s 2019 pro-democracy movement.
The case has been closely monitored because it would impact on tech firms and internet platform operators; hence an international concern has been expressed for free flow of information in Hong Kong.
Among other things, the court order prohibits committing or broadcasting this song as a crime and lists 32 problematic YouTube videos according to the Government’s opinion.
YouTube verified on Wednesday that it would prevent people from watching those 32 videos if they are accessed from any computer with an IP address located in Hong Kong as long as this is done immediately.
“While we disagree with this ruling, we have complied with the removal request from the Court,” YouTube acknowledged in a statement dated Wednesday.
“We will continue to weigh our decision regarding possible appeals aimed at promoting freedom of access to information,” added YouTube which warns of curtailment of online free speech globally by this judgement due to expression fears associated with it.
AFP found that all 32 YouTube videos named under the court order were not accessible in Hong Kong today, some pages said ‘this content is not available in your country domain due to court orders.’
After mistakenly being played at international sporting events as Hong Kong’s anthem rather than China’s “March of Volunteers”, last year authorities sought a court order over this song.
Officials during that time called for search results and video platforms such as Google, Facebook etc. to drop its anthem but without success.
This act by Beijing was condemned by United States and termed as diminishing country reputation internationally while Chinese authorities justified their decision as one necessary security measure.
“It is deeply disappointing that Google has given in to a clear request for political censorship,” said Lokman Tsui, research fellow on digital rights and former Google head of free expression, Asia-Pacific.
For human rights group FORUM-ASIA’s Cornelius Hanung, this court order is an “extraordinary measure”, taking Hong Kong closer to countries “like Myanmar and Laos in terms of freedom of expression, where authoritarian governments impose a blanket approach to cripple rights”.
AFP has reached out to the Hong Kong government for comment.
