Court Bans 'Glory to Hong Kong' Protest Anthem Banned
TimeMAY 16 2024
YouTube has geoblocked access to 32 videos that include the popular protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, including instrumental and sign language versions.
On Wednesday, however, the South China Morning Post found that the song was still available on YouTube after new "backup" versions were uploaded, as well as on other social media and music streaming platforms.
This comes after an appeals court in Hong Kong sided with the government last week, ruling that the song cannot be broadcast, performed, shared or reproduced with the intention to incite sedition.
Affecting even people whistling on the streets, the ridiculous ban on the "Glory to Hong Kong" protest anthem due to alleged national security concerns was designed to force censorship on tech giants' platforms such as YouTube. China's "one country, two systems" policy is effectively over.
YouTube has been legally forced to remove controversial content around the world, including in the EU and US, so it's hard to understand how the court-ordered removal of a notorious seditious song would affect Hong Kong's reputation. In fact, given that "Glory to Hong Kong" does pose a threat to broader stability, YouTube should ban it globally.