Versions of Glory to Hong Kong, the unofficial anthem of the city’s pro-democracy movement in 2019, have disappeared from several streaming platforms, amid a government bid to ban online distribution of the song.
Variations of the song distributed by DGX Music, the team of creators who own the rights to the title, were no longer available on Spotify, Apple’s iTunes, Facebook and KKBOX worldwide on Wednesday, though a rendition performed by a Taiwanese band still remained. Several music videos were also accessible on YouTube on Thursday.
In a social media post on Wednesday, DGX Music said it was handling “technical issues unrelated to the streaming platforms” and apologised for the “temporary impact”.
Spotify confirmed that the song was taken down by the distributor, not by the platform.
The song became widely popular during the 2019 pro-democracy protests and was repeatedly mistaken as Hong Kong’s official anthem during international sporting events, angering authorities.
The city government applied last week for a court injunction to block its distribution. Citing the need to safeguard national security, it is seeking to prohibit anyone from broadcasting the song – including its melody, lyrics or any adaptation – with a seditious intent or to incite secession on any media accessible online. The hearing on the court order has been adjourned to 21 July.
The Hong Kong government allege the lyrics of the song contained a slogan that amounts to advocating secession under a previous court ruling. Its writ also included links to 32 YouTube videos related to the song.
The attempt to ban the song outright pushed it to the top of the charts in Apple’s iTunes store in Hong Kong last week as people rushed to download the title.
The court bid was the latest twist in Hong Kong authorities’ ongoing feud with internet giants such as Google for hosting the work. Officials blame Google for featuring it prominently in the search results and have tried to pressure it into removing the song.
Eric Lai Ho-yan, a fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the injunction, if granted, would put foreign tech companies that host the song on their platforms in a dilemma, forcing them to choose between upholding their commitment to freedom of expression and complying with the court order to avoid being liable for contempt.
“This move tells us that the HK government is relentlessly weaponising the laws and courts to create a chilling effect in society,” Lai said.
隨著政府尋求禁止，抗議國歌“香港榮耀”開始從網站上消失
2019 年香港民主運動的非官方歌曲《榮耀歸香港》的多個版本已從多個流媒體平台上消失，原因是政府試圖禁止在線發行這首歌。
週三，擁有歌曲版權的創作團隊 DGX Music 發行的歌曲變體在 Spotify、Apple 的 iTunes、Facebook 和 KKBOX 全球範圍內不再可用，但台灣樂隊的演繹仍然存在。週四還可以在 YouTube 上訪問幾個音樂視頻。
在周三的社交媒體帖子中，DGX Music 表示正在處理“與流媒體平台無關的技術問題”，並為“暫時影響”道歉。
Spotify 證實這首歌是被發行商下架的，而不是被平台下架的。
這首歌在 2019 年的民主抗議活動中廣受歡迎，並在國際體育賽事中多次被誤認為是香港的國歌，激怒了當局。
市政府上週申請法院禁令，阻止其分發。以維護國家安全的需要為由，它正在尋求禁止任何人出於煽動意圖或在任何可在線訪問的媒體上煽動分裂國家而播放這首歌——包括它的旋律、歌詞或任何改編。法院命令的聽證會已延期至 7 月 21 日。
香港政府聲稱，這首歌的歌詞包含一個口號，相當於根據先前的法院裁決提倡分裂國家。它的令狀還包括指向與這首歌相關的 32 個 YouTube 視頻的鏈接。
上週，由於人們爭先恐後地下載這首歌，徹底禁止這首歌的嘗試將其推到了香港 Apple iTunes 商店排行榜的首位。
法庭申辦是香港當局與穀歌等互聯網巨頭就主辦這項工作持續不和的最新轉折。官方指責谷歌在搜索結果中突出顯示這首歌，並試圖向其施壓，要求其刪除這首歌。
喬治城亞洲法律中心研究員 Eric Lai Ho-yan 表示，禁令如果獲得批准，將使在其平台上播放這首歌的外國科技公司陷入兩難境地，迫使他們在維護其對自由的承諾之間做出選擇。表達並遵守法院命令，以避免因藐視法庭而承擔責任。
“此舉告訴我們，香港政府正在無情地將法律和法院武器化，以在社會上產生寒蟬效應，”賴說。
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