Google is facing unprecedented heat in Hong Kong as local authorities try and censor a preferred pro-democracy anthem — and the high-stakes spat has provoked speculation that the US tech giant could exit the market entirely.
The Asian business mecca’s department of justice is searching for a court order banning web firms including Google from broadcasting or distributing the “Glory to Hong Kong” protest song.
The federal government’s application also called for the removal of 32 YouTube videos featuring the anthem.
The injunction request is arguably Hong Kong’s most aggressive attempt yet to censor political content on US-run tech platforms.
In 2020, Beijing passed a tricky national security law that granted the Chinese Communist Party sweeping power to crack down on dissent.
A full Google retreat from Hong Kong within the near future has develop into “very likely,” said Xiaomeng Lu, director of consulting firm Eurasia Group’s geotechnology practice.
She argues the present legal tussle is following the identical pattern that ultimately led Google to drag its search engine from mainland China in 2010.
“This is similar episode being replayed,” Lu told The Post. “It might take some time – it might not be next month. But I believe the eventuality will kick in, whether it’s in just a few months or in a 12 months, a few years. I don’t think this can take five years.”
Hong Kong’s High Court has set a July 21 hearing date to contemplate the federal government’s request.
If granted, it might weaken Google’s standing in town, where pro-Beijing officials have already slammed the corporate for allowing “Glory to Hong Kong” to seem at the highest of search engine results.
A restraining order also could open other US tech firms to a latest wave of legal motion over their content policies.
Of their filing, local authorities argued the lyrics of “Glory to Hong Kong” advocate “secession.”
Hong Kong officials have been embarrassed by recent episodes at international sporting events, including a December rugby tournament in South Korea, wherein the protest song was mistakenly played because the national anthem as a substitute of China’s “March of the Volunteers.”
They blamed the latter incident on Google and demanded the corporate bury “Glory to Hong Kong” in its search results.
Google fired back on the time, noting it doesn’t manually control search results and wouldn’t “remove web results apart from specific reasons outlined in our global policy documentation.”
Some experts say Hong Kong is solely too priceless to Google’s operations in Asia to desert.
Amongst them is Niki Christoff, a outstanding tech policy consultant who spend eight years working in strategic communications at Google, including on the time the corporate stopped offering its search engine in mainland China.
Christoff argued Google “absolutely cannot cede the Chinese marketplace for business purposes,” noting such an exit would effectively close off access to an enormous market of consumers and have cascading effects for its Android operating system, the Google Play Store and YouTube.
Google and other tech firms generally comply with local laws, even in the event that they don’t align with US doctrine.
For instance, Google has taken down YouTube videos criticizing Thailand’s monarchy lately.
“My hunch is that there is likely to be a discussion a few historic stance on free speech versus the business consequences of doing the takedown, and possibly among the press consequences of doing it,” Christoff said. “But dollars to donuts, I believe they only take it down and proceed operating.”
Publicly, Google has given little indication regarding how it’s going to react.
When reached for comment, a Google spokesperson said the corporate is “committed to creating information accessible to users.”
The spokesperson didn’t address the pending Hong Kong court battle.
Kathy Lee, Google Cloud’s managing director for Greater China, recently told the South China Morning Post the corporate was committed to its Hong Kong operations and dealing with local regulators.
When reached for comment about Hong Kong’s proposed injunction, an AIC spokesperson said the group “won’t be commenting on the matter at this point,” citing the looming court date.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and the corporate’s board of directors are likely working time beyond regulation to salvage the situation, based on Stefano Bonini, an authority on boardroom dynamics and professor on the Stevens Institute of Technology in Recent Jersey.
“The query that I believe they’re weighing on the board immediately is, ‘Yeah, we now have an increasing cost of staying there, however it’s still a crucial market,’” Bonini said. “’Do we wish to [exit] and totally cede to the pressures of an authoritarian government and curb the liberty of speech?’”
Google isn’t the one Western operator facing censorship pressure in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, popular versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” appeared to vanish from Apple’s iTunes chart and were also inaccessible on Facebook and Instagram, Reuters reported.
The song was also briefly faraway from Spotify‘s platform, though they later reappeared.
Meanwhile, signs of Google’s growing hesitance to operate in Hong Kong have already begun to emerge.
Experts suggested the businesses are apprehensive about running afoul of the region’s national security law.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Google and other US tech giants are “slowly cutting off Hong Kong web users” and restricting access to their highly touted AI chatbot services.
In 2021, the Asia Web Coalition, an industry trade group that represents Google, Twitter, Meta and various other US firms, warned Hong Kong’s government that the businesses could exit in response to a controversial “anti-doxxing” law.
Despite the warning, Hong Kong’s legislature later passed the bill. Up to now, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are all still available in Hong Kong.
