Google Rejects Intervention in Search Results for the Hong Kong National Anthem Because It is Purely an Algorithmic Result

Illustration of the Hong Kong flag. (photo: dock. Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Google has refused to change its search results to show the Chinese national anthem, rather than the protest song Glory to Hong Kong, when users search for the Hong Kong national anthem on Google's search engine. Hong Kong's city security chief on Monday, December 12, expressed "great regret" over the decision.

Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The row came after Hong Kong police said they would investigate the playing of "Glory to Hong Kong" - the unofficial anthem of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019, in the men's final of the seventh rugby tournament in South Korea last November.

"Glory to Hong Kong" was written in 2019, just as Hong Kong protests were erupting against China's tightening control of the city, and is considered by many demonstrators in the former British colony to be their national anthem.

The song was banned in 2020 after China imposed a national security law on the financial hub to punish what Beijing defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to up to life in prison.

The Asian Rugby Association blamed "a simple human error" for playing a song downloaded from the internet instead of the correct national anthem. The top search term on Google for the Hong Kong national anthem at the time was "Glory to Hong Kong".

Hong Kong's security secretary, Chris Tang, said Google's request to replace the protest song with the Chinese national anthem for the top search term was rejected, because Google said such results were generated by an algorithm without human input.

"We have approached Google to request that they place the correct national anthem at the top of their search results, but Google has unfortunately refused," Tang said.

"We are very sorry and this has hurt the feelings of Hong Kong people," Tang added.