Google 'Very Likely' Faces Ban in Hong Kong as China Cracks Down
While facing a potential ban in Hong Kong, as the local authorities continue to censor a popular anthem that touts democratic values, Google may leave the Chinese region altogether, according to several experts on the issue.
A court order issued by Hong Kong’s government on June 6 calls for the embargo of U.S. internet firms, including Google, on broadcasting or distributing “Glory to Hong Kong,” a common song used during the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests. It also requests the removal of 32 YouTube videos that feature the anthem, the New York Post reported last week.
Xiaomeng Lu, director of consulting firm Eurasia Group’s geotechnology practice, said it’s become “very likely” Google will exit the People’s Republic of China’s special administrative region in the near future, considering the technology company left the Chinese mainland in 2010.
“This is the same episode being replayed,” Lu said. “It may take a while — it may not be next month. But I think the eventuality will kick in, whether it’s in a few months or in a year, a couple of years. I don’t think this will take five years.”
China passed a controversial national security law in 2020 that allowed its Chinese Communist Party to crack down on protesters in Hong Kong more easily, leading to hundreds of arrests. The restraining order on U.S. tech firms is just another example of the city’s loss of autonomy.
Hong Kong’s government claimed that the protest anthem incites “others to commit secession” and wants to ban the song in an attempt to “[safeguard] national security and [preserve] the dignity of the national anthem,” which is titled “March of the Volunteers.” Because Hong Kong falls under the People’s Republic of China, it too is the city’s official anthem, according to the CCP.
A court hearing will be held on July 21 to evaluate the government’s injunction on the matter, the Post reported.
Google faced similar pushback from the Chinese government in the past, after it allowed the “Glory to Hong Kong” protest song to appear at the top of search engine results in the city. The CCP responded unfavorably to Google’s algorithm, demanding the company bury the song’s search results after it was played in place of the national anthem at a rugby tournament last year.
Google did not bow to the foreign government’s demands at the time, saying the company does not “remove web results except for specific reasons outlined in our global policy documentation.”
Though the incident served as one instance of Google’s noncompliance with the CCP, it’s hard to tell how the company will respond to the court order as it has not given an official response regarding the matter.
A Google representative told the New York Post the tech giant is “committed to making information accessible to users.” However, the source did not specifically address the upcoming court date in Hong Kong.
If Google restricted its services to the city’s citizens, it would face economic repercussions from losing an entire market of consumers, which would negatively impact its Android operating system, Google Play Store and YouTube, tech policy consultant Niki Christoff said.
“My hunch is that there might be a discussion about a historic stance on free speech versus the business consequences of doing the takedown, and maybe some of the press consequences of doing it,” Christoff said, before admitting Google would eventually comply. “But dollars to donuts, I think they just take it down and continue operating.”
Stefano Bonini, an expert on behavioral finance, gave his thoughts on the matter.
“The question that I think they’re weighing on the board right now is, ‘Yeah, we have an increasing cost of staying there, but it’s still an important market,'” Bonini said. “‘Do we want to [exit] and totally cede to the pressures of an authoritarian government and curb the freedom of speech?'”
So far, it’s looking like the company will bend its knee to the Chinese government’s wishes. As of June, The Wall Street Journal reported Google and other tech giants, like OpenAI and Microsoft, were slowly cutting off Hong Kong’s internet access, allegedly due to the demands outlined in China’s national security law.
Besides Google, Apple’s iTunes, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify recently faced censorship pressure as the “Glory to Hong Kong” anthem was reportedly disappearing from the platforms, though it did return to Spotify at a later date, the Post reported.
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