Hong Kong DOJ Applies for an Injunction to Ban a Pro-Democratic Song

The Department of Justice (DOJ) in Hong Kong announced on June 6 that it has applied to the court for a full injunction and a temporary injunction to prohibit anyone from spreading “Glory to Hong Kong” (a pro-democratic song). The song has been mistakenly played at several international sports events as the Hong Kong national anthem instead of the Communist China anthem. The Hong Kong government has often negotiated with Google to ban the song. However, Google responded that algorithms monitor the search results and cannot be tampered with by humans and rejected the request outright. The Hong Kong authorities stated that the purpose of this injunction application is to stop anyone from disseminating or performing the song (or just the tune) to incite others to split the country or to incite others; or with the intention of insulting the national anthem. The government added that the lyrics of “Glory to Hong Kong” contain slogans ruled by the court to constitute “incitement.” The petition also attached a list of 32 YouTube links, including MV, pure music tune, orchestra version, the sign language version, and versions in different languages, and requested the defendant stop disseminating “Glory to Hong Kong” immediately. According to the Judiciary’s website, the application for an injunction will start the directions hearing on June 12. The Song Leapfrogs into the Top 9 of iTunes As soon as the news of the DOJ’s application for an injunction was made public, it immediately triggered many people to purchase the song as a collection item. On June 7, the Hong Kong iTunes, different versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” occupy the top nine places, including the original (Cantonese) soundtrack, English version, March theme, and pure music tune. Scholar: Government Action Based on Fear In an interview with the Epoch Times on June 6, Benson Wong Wai-kwok, an independent scholar of cultural studies and political science in Hong Kong, said that behind the authorities’ actions was the concept of “fear,” thinking that the public would not spread “Glory to Hong Kong” out of fear. But he believes that as the totalitarian government relies on intimidation to maintain its governance, it will never consider whether its actions are stupid. People with conscience in Hong Kong will continue by different means. Wong pointed out that the current saga is like the Hong Kong public libraries’ banning books accused of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law. “The more bans [by the authorities], the more people will try their best to preserve and collect them.” Lawyer: Injunction Will Not Take the Song Off the Shelves Hong Kong lawyer Tse Lin-chung stated on his Facebook page on June 6 that even if the Hong Kong court finds there is ground to grant an injunction, the terms of the order can only be implemented in Hong Kong, as the Hong Kong court does not possess the jurisdiction rights overseas. From a jurisdiction perspective, YouTube is an overseas company, and the application for a subpoena must be served in the U.S. before it can ask Google, its parent company, to respond. However, he believes that even if Google is successfully forced to succumb, it can only restrict the dissemination of the song in Hong Kong, and it is not possible to remove it from the shelves. Tse pointed out that taking it off the shelves means banning it from broadcasting globally. “To take it off the shelves globally, the government has to go to the U.S. to apply for another injunction. That is another application. Obviously, according to U.S. law, it is impossible for U.S. courts to issue the same injunction.” The Lyrics Accused of Containing Incitement Content “Glory to Hong Kong,” was created by a group of netizens during the anti-extradition movement in 2019, was widely recognized by Hong Kong people who even hailed it as the laymen version of the “Hong Kong National Anthem” because it expressed the aspirations of the protesters. The lyrics contain the verse “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times,” which was later judged by the Hong Kong government as “inciting secession.” On June 11, 2020, Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, the then Secretary of the Hong Kong Education Bureau, stated on a radio program that “Glory to Hong Kong” is obviously a song of political propaganda and should not appear in schools. The Hong Kong government decided on July 2, 2020, that the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times” as containing intents of “Hong Kong independence” and “subversion of state power.”