Hong Kong’s appeals court has ruled that a protest song is illegal to sing or play in the city.
“Glory to Hong Kong” emerged as an anthem for protesters during the massive anti-government protests in 2019.
Judge Jeremy Poon sided in favor of the government in his ruling Wednesday, saying the composer intended for the song to be used as a “weapon.”
The ban covers anyone who either broadcasts or distributes the song with the intention of promoting Hong Kong’s independence or misrepresents it as the city’s official anthem.
The song has mistakenly been played at sporting events as the official anthem of Hong Kong. The city does not have its own anthem, instead using mainland China’s official anthem “March of the Volunteers.”
Judge Poon’s ruling overturned a previous decision issued last year by the High Court, which cited free speech concerns in its ruling. The government went to court last year to have the song banned after Google and other internet service providers refused to remove it from their search results.
The ban is the latest action taken by the government to silence dissenting voices since Beijing passed a sweeping security law for Hong Kong in 2020 in response to the protests. The law punishes anyone believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces.
Since the law took effect, hundreds of pro-democracy advocates have been arrested, tried and jailed, and the city’s once-vibrant civil society has been stifled.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
