“The Hong Kong government must end its increasingly fervent crackdown on freedom of expression. The head of Amnesty International’s China team, Sarah Brooks, described the government’s move to outlaw the song as “absurd.” The government’s bid to outlaw the song was heard in the High Court on Monday, but the judge has postponed a decision on the interim injunction to July 21, public broadcaster RTHK reported. The writ also listed 32 YouTube videos of the song, including instrumental and sign language versions. It further seeks to restrain anyone from “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing (the song) in any way.” Under the injunction filed by the Department of Justice, the song’s “melody or lyrics or in combination” would be banned to avoid “inciting others to commit secession.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, city leader John Lee – a former police chief – said authorities were taking action because “Glory to Hong Kong” was “not compatible with the national interest.” Hong Kong’s government filed a court injunction on June 5 seeking to ban the broadcast or distribution of the protest song after it was mistakenly played at several international sporting events. Music is now coming under closer scrutiny. New laws have also been passed to increase censorship of films to “safeguard national security.” Protest leaders have been arrested or driven into exile, while the government persists on scrubbing references to the social unrest and calls for democracy in the city. As a result it flourished as a bastion for free speech and creative expression within authoritarian China.īut a crackdown on dissent in the aftermath of the democracy protests has since transformed the city, especially after a sweeping national security law was imposed by Beijing in 2020. “(We) stand firm against any attempts to suppress freedom of thought and speech,” the latest post on Monday said, adding that the composers back listeners’ “refusal to lose their freedom to choose music.”ĬNN has reached out to the Hong Kong government for comment following the reappearance of the tracks.įollowing its 1997 handover to China, Hong Kong was promised key freedoms and autonomy to run its own affairs. The song can no longer be found on Apple Music and KKBOX in Taiwan, however multiple versions of it are still available on YouTube.ĬNN has reached out to YouTube, Apple Music, KKBOX, and Alphabet – the parent company of Google – for comment.īy Monday, several new uploads of the song reappeared on YouTube, and the tune could be found again on Spotify and Apple Music – even within Hong Kong.Ī Facebook account tied to the original composers said they have re-uploaded the soundtrack on several music platforms as a “2023 Edition,” after initially saying last week that they were “dealing with some technical issues unrelated to the streaming services.” Users in the US cannot purchase the song on Apple Music either, although it also still yields search results on the platform. Spotify told CNN that the song was removed by the distributor and not by the platform. The titles of those covers can still be seen on Spotify in other parts of the world, including the United States, South Korea and Australia.īut when CNN reporters in those countries tried to play the songs they were listed as “unavailable.” Multiple versions and covers of the song have been recorded by other artists. Kong protest song plays instead of China anthem in rugby final mix-up Hong Kong calls for investigation after protest song played at rugby sevens game.
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