Court grants injunction over 'Glory to Hong Kong'

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday granted a temporary injunction order banning the 2019 protest song "Glory to Hong Kong". In their decision, judges Jeremy Poon, Carlye Chu and Anthea Pang said they agreed with the administration that there was a compelling need to grant an injunction on national security grounds. The injunction bans anyone "with seditious intent" from playing or performing the song. The judges said criminal law alone could not achieve the purpose of safeguarding national security regarding the matter, since it is not practicable to bring proceedings against "unidentifiable" people online who commit offences in relation to the song. They noted that there had been "widespread and persistent" flouting of the law before and especially after the national security law came into force in 2020. "Such is the seriousness of the criminal problems that the court must intervene immediately to prevent the continuation of the prevailing unlawful state of affairs; otherwise any further damage to national security would likely to be irreparable," the judgement read. The judges also said the injunction was necessary to persuade internet platforms to remove "problematic" content. They agreed with a lower court ruling earlier that the injunction may have “chilling effects”, but said it has addressed concerns about the right to free expression by allowing exceptions for lawful action connected to the song, such as academic and reporting activities. A lower court had last year rejected the government's bid for an injunction, saying it would be "of no real utility". The Department of Justice appealed against that ruling.