Hong Kong’s appeal court yesterday banned Glory to Hong Kong, a protest song that emerged during the territory’s massive democracy demonstrations in 2019.
Penned anonymously, its lyrics include the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” and it has been all but illegal to sing or play it since authorities crushed the protests and Beijing imposed a national security law quelling dissent in 2020.
Yesterday’s decision by the Court of Appeal would make Glory to Hong Kong the first song to be banned in the former British colony since it was handed over to China in 1997.
Photo: AP
We “are satisfied that an injunction should be granted,” appeal judge Jeremy Poon wrote in the decision, granting an order that would stop a range of acts, including broadcasting and performing the song.
Officials in June last year had requested an injunction to ban Glory to Hong Kong, but were refused by the High Court in a surprise ruling, which said a ban could have a “chilling effect” on innocent third parties.
The court also said then that the injunction did not have “any real utility,” which judges in the Court of Appeal disagreed with.
“The composer of the song has intended it to be a ‘weapon’ and so it had become,” Poon wrote.
Civil injunction is needed, as “criminal law alone would not achieve the public interest purpose of safeguarding national security,” Poon wrote.
The injunction contained exceptions for “academic activity and news activity,” a tweak the government made after earlier questioning by judges.
Representing the government during an appeal hearing in December last year, lawyer Benjamin Yu (余若海) had said the song was akin to “misinformation and propaganda.”
He said the song was still “prevalent” and “remains highly effective in arousing emotions of the public.”
A key issue raised by judges during the December hearing was how the government’s proposed order would affect Internet service providers.
Officials had demanded Internet giants such as Google remove the protest song from their search results and video platforms, but were largely rebuffed.
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