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As China has exerted ever greater control on Hong Kong, officials sought to ban the unofficial anthem from being shared, sung or even performed anywhere in Hong Kong.
The injunction would have posed significant challenges for tech companies, forcing them to stop the distribution of the song on platforms like Facebook, YouTube and iTunes, or be in violation of local law.
Local rights activists feared the ban was a given, considering China’s ever tighter grip on the territory, warning it would allow Beijing to influence freedom of information for internet users everywhere.
But High Court Judge Anthony Chan on Friday ruled that granting the injunction would have “chilling effects.”
“Innocent people might be discouraged from legitimate activities involving the Song for fear of the severe consequences,” he wrote in his decision.
Apple, Google and Meta did not respond to requests for comment on the decision, or after the judge heard submissions the week before.
Hong Kong’s city government last month asked the court to prohibit the broadcast or distribution of the song, contending it contains a slogan that advocates secession — a crime under the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020 after a wave of protests.
The law significantly restricted free expression and criminalized activities seen as advocating for Hong Kong’s independence or subverting state power.
If the court had ruled in the government’s favor, it would have meant people would be outright banned from singing the lyrics or humming the melody of “Glory to Hong Kong” or sharing it in any form online.
Earlier this month, a Hong Kong man was sentenced to three months in prison under the National Anthem Ordinance, for creating a video of an athlete receiving a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics that included a rendition of “Glory to Hong Kong,” and uploading it to YouTube.
A man was arrested for sedition, a crime under the national security law, last year for playing the tune on a harmonica during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
Given the existence of these other laws, “the Court was not satisfied that the Injunction would be of real utility bearing in mind that the Acts were criminal acts punishable under a robust criminal regime,” Chan wrote in his decision.
Arguing its case in a previous hearing, the Hong Kong government cited 32 YouTube videos as examples of the content it wanted blocked by the injunction.
The day before the court decision, a YouTube search for “Hong Kong national anthem” yielded nearly a dozen videos featuring “Glory to Hong Kong” before any results involving the official national anthem Hong Kong shares with China, “March of the Volunteers.”
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