'Glory to Hong Kong': High Court rejects govt's bid to ban pro-democracy song

The high court of Hong Kong has rejected the Chinese government’s bid to ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, a pro-democracy protest song.

The high court said that banning the song could create a “chilling effect” and seriously undermine the freedom of expression.

The government, on the other hand, argues that ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ insults China’s national anthem and that its distribution and online publication can give people the false impression that Hong Kong is an independent country.

“I am unable to see a solid basis for believing that the invocation of the civil jurisdiction can assist in the enforcement of the law in question,” Judge Anthony Chan said in his ruling.

Chan added that the court is entitled to the duty of protecting human rights which includes freedom of expression.

“Innocent people might be discouraged from legitimate activities involving the song for fear of the severe consequences of breaching the injunction,” he said.

In 2019, the song had become an unofficial anthem during the pro-democracy protests.

Human rights activists welcome ruling

The high court’s ruling was well received by Chinese human rights activists.

“The Hong Kong government should respect the decision and refrain from making further attempts to censor the protest song Glory to Hong Kong and other political expressions,” Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch said.

She added, “It should also stop its aggressive campaign to undermine internationally guaranteed human rights.”

Before the ruling was passed, aw-Nian Huang, an assistant professor at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, had said that the injunction by the government, if passed, would have expanded Beijing’s aim to increase territorial control over Taiwan.

“For multinational tech companies, it implies that they will continue to confront in the Hong Kong market the dilemma they have faced in the Chinese market – choosing between adhering to existing international norms of internet freedom and compromising with China’s vigorously promoted digital authoritarian governance model for the sake of economic interests in the Chinese market,” he said.