Google is facing unprecedented heatwaves in Hong Kong as local authorities try to censor a popular pro-democracy anthem – and a high-stakes dispute has sparked speculation that the US tech giant could exit of business altogether.
Asia’s business mecca’s Justice Department searching for a court order banning Web firms including Google in broadcasting or distributing the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong”.
The federal government’s motion also called for removal of 32 videos from YouTube includes the anthem.
The injunction request is arguably essentially the most aggressive try to censor Hong Kong political content on US-led technology platforms.
In 2020, Beijing enacted strict national security laws that gave the Chinese Communist Party broad powers to crack down on dissidents.
Google’s complete withdrawal from Hong Kong within the near future has turn out to be “very likely,” said Xiaomeng Lu, director of the geotech practice practice at Eurasia Group consulting firm.
He says the present legal battle follows the identical pattern that eventually led to Google withdrawing its search engine from mainland China in 2010.
“This is identical episode that’s being played,” Lu told The Post. “It may take a while – it may not be next month. But I believe the chance will arise, whether it’s in a few months, a 12 months, a few years. I do not think it will take five years.”
The Hong Kong Supreme Court has set a hearing date of July 21 to think about the federal government’s request.
If granted, it would weaken Google’s position in a city where pro-Beijing officials have already criticized the corporate for allowing “Glory to Hong Kong” to seem at the highest of search results.
![Hong Kong](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012713619.jpg?w=1024)
The restraining order could also open other US tech firms to a recent wave of legal motion over their content policies.
Of their filing, the local authority argued that the words “Glory to Hong Kong” advocated “secession”.
Hong Kong officials have been embarrassed by recent episodes at international sporting events, including a South Korean rugby tournament in December where a protest song was mistakenly played as the national anthem as an alternative of China’s “March of the Volunteers”.
They blamed the latter incident on Google and demanded that the corporate hide “Glory to Hong Kong” from its search results.
Google then responded by noting that it doesn’t manually audit search results and doesn’t “remove results from the net, except for specific reasons set forth in our global policy documentation.”
Some experts say Hong Kong is just too precious to Google’s Asia operations to desert.
![Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013051210.jpg?w=1024)
Amongst them is Niki Christoff, a outstanding technology policy consultant who spent eight years working in strategic communications at Google, including when the corporate stopped offering its search engine in mainland China.
Christoff argued that Google “absolutely cannot cede the Chinese market for business purposes”, noting that such an exit would effectively foreclose a huge consumer market and have a cascading impact on its Android operating system, Google Play Store and YouTube.
Google and other tech firms generally abide by local laws, even in the event that they don’t conform to US doctrine.
![Hong Kong](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012327047.jpg?w=1024)
For instance, Google has removed YouTube videos criticizing the Thai monarchy in recent times.
“I even have a feeling there might be some discussion in regards to the historic stance on free speech versus the business ramifications of removing and possibly among the press ramifications,” Christoff said. “But donut dollars, I believe they’re just taking them off and getting on with business.”
Publicly, Google gave little indication of how it would respond.
Asked for comment, a Google spokesperson said the corporate “is committed to sharing information with users.”
![Hong Kong](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012327043.jpg?w=1024)
The spokesman didn’t comment on the continued court battle in Hong Kong.
Kathy Lee, managing director of Google Cloud Greater China, recently said Morning mail from southern China the corporate was involved in Hong Kong operations and cooperation with local regulators.
When reached for comment on Hong Kong’s proposed injunction, an AIC spokesman said the group “wouldn’t comment on the matter presently”, citing the upcoming trial date.
In line with Stefano Bonini, an authority in meeting room dynamics and a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Recent Jersey, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and the corporate’s board of directors are likely working time beyond regulation to salvage the situation.
“The query I believe they’re considering now’s, ‘Yes, we’ve got rising costs to remain there, but it’s still a crucial market,’ Bonini said. “”We would like [exit] and provides in completely to authoritarian government pressure and restrict free speech?”
Google is not the only Western operator facing censorship pressure in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, popular versions of “Glory to Hong Kong” disappeared from Apple’s iTunes chart and were also unavailable on Facebook and Instagram, reported Reuters.
There was a song too briefly faraway from Spotifyplatforms, though they reappeared later.
![Hong Kong protests](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012327031.jpg?w=1024)
Meanwhile, signs of Google’s growing reluctance to do business in Hong Kong have begun to emerge.
Experts have suggested that firms are concerned about violating the region’s national security regulations.
The Wall Street Journal recently repoRtedding that Google and other US tech giants are “slowly cutting off Web users in Hong Kong” and restricting access to their highly advertised AI chatbot services.
In 2021, the Asia Web Coalition, an industry trade group representing Google, Twitter, Meta and various other US firms, warned the Hong Kong government that firms could exit in response to a controversial “anti-doxxing” law.
Despite the warning, the Hong Kong Parliament later passed the bill. To date, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are still available in Hong Kong.