YouTube reportedly blocks access to HK protest song following court order

YouTube has blocked Hongkongers from accessing a controversial protest song in Hong Kong, after a Hong Kong court granted the government an interim injunction to ban the anthem.

According to statement sent to Reuters, YouTube said the geoblocking of the videos will be immediately implemented for viewers located in Hong Kong. As part of this action, it has blocked access to 32 video links that were considered to be associated with the protest song.

Meanwhile, YouTube expressed its disappointment with the court's decision, according to the report. The platform said the ruling could potentially undermine Hong Kong's digital economy and reputation as a reliable business environment.

YouTube said it shares the concerns of human rights groups regarding the potential chilling effect on free expression online caused by the content ban.

According to multiple media reports such as HK01 and The Standard, users in Hong Kong attempting to access the song on YouTube are greeted with a message stating, "This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order." Meanwhile, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw different versions of the song can still be found on Google and YouTube.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to YouTube for a statement. 

Don’t miss: HK places Google in hot seat following ban on protest song

It comes after the Court of Appeal of the High Court allowed the Secretary for Justice's appeal, and granted an interim injunction concerning four specified criminal acts in relation to the song, including the ban of the broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing in any way including on the internet and any media accessible online of the song.

The appeal judge Jeremy Poon wrote in a judgment that the composer of the song had "intended it to be a "weapon" and so it had become.

"It had been used as an impetus to propel the violent protests plaguing Hong Kong since 2019. It is powerful in arousing emotions among certain fractions of the society. It has the effect of justifying and even romanticising and glorifying the unlawful and violent acts inflicted on Hong Kong in the past few years, arousing and rekindling strong emotions and the desire to violent confrontations," the judgement states.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said last Thursday (9 May) at a media session that, the government would request or require relevant internet service providers such as Google to remove the relevant content in accordance with the terms of the court injunction.

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