Hong Kong court rejects gov’t application for ban on pro-democracy protest song
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s High Court on Friday rejected a government bid to ban people from performing or playing the pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong, saying such a move could have a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech.
Judge Anthony Chan said in his ruling he was not “satisfied” that it was “just and convenient” to grant the government’s request for an injunction.
The Department of Justice made the move following several mix-ups at international sporting events, when organisers relying on Google searches mistook the protest song for the official national anthem, China’ s March of the Volunteers.
But the court raised concerns over the “chilling effects” a ban would bring.
“Given that the Injunction is aimed at criminal acts but not lawful activities, I believe that the intrusion to freedom of expression here, especially to innocent third parties, is what is referred to in public law as ‘chilling effects’,” Chan wrote.
“With respect, I am unable to agree that the chilling effects may be dismissed simply because the Injunction is not aimed at lawful pursuits,” Chan’s ruling read.
“Perfectly innocent people” might refrain from engaging in lawful acts involving the song “for fear of trespassing the injunction which has severe consequences,” the judge ruled.
The injunction bid had sparked concern among some about the potential implications for free speech. Hong Kong, unlike the rest of China, does not censor the internet despite a sweeping Beijing-drafted national security law passed in June 2020.
See also: Explainer: Why, and how, the gov’t wants to ban protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’
City authorities previously urged Google to adjust its search results for “Hong Kong national anthem” so that they displayed the official anthem, but the US tech giant said it needed proof that the protest song was illegal.
The lyrics of Glory to Hong Kong, a song popularised during the 2019 extradition bill protests, contain the phrase, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan that was ruled to be capable of inciting secession during the city’s first national security trial.
Hong Kong already has a law criminalising insults to China’s national anthem or flag but said the injunction against the protest ballad was also necessary.
The justice department said in June the song was “likely to be mistaken as the national anthem,” and that its existence could suggest that the city has an anthem of its own or could encourage others to commit seditious acts. Injunctions would protect the national anthem from insult, it added.
‘Glory to Hong Kong’
Glory to Hong Kong was released on YouTube by a local songwriter identified only as Thomas, and his team, on August 31, 2019 – during the height of the citywide pro-democracy demonstrations and unrest.
It featured lyrics co-written by netizens on discussion forum LIHKG. They called for democracy and freedom, and included the now-banned “Liberate” slogan.
The government has refused to say whether Glory to Hong Kong is illegal when asked by HKFP, despite the authorities’ insistence that the law is clear. Nevertheless, the recent effort to ban all forms of the song was preceded by other legal moves and arrests.
Earlier this month, 27-year-old photographer Cheng Wing-chun became the first person convicted under the city’s national anthem law. He was sentenced to three months in prison after replacing March of the Volunteers with Glory to Hong Kong in a video.
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