Google Faces Pressure in Hong Kong Over Search Results for National Anthem

Hong Kong’s official anthem has been China’s “March of The Volunteers” since Beijing regained sovereignty over the former British colony 25 years ago. Antigovernment protesters in 2019 adopted “Glory to Hong Kong”—before the imposition of a national security law—and it has featured prominently on Google and YouTube since then. 

That has led to confusion in recent weeks at sporting events when the protest anthem was played, angering local officials and triggering an investigation by the Hong Kong police’s organized crime bureau.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment, though the company has said its search results are determined by algorithms—not by human curation—and that results some might find objectionable can occur when search queries match text on webpages. The company says it only removes content that violates Google’s policies or specific legal obligations.

Last week, a third lawmaker staged a protest with several people at Google’s Hong Kong office. It was a rare show of anger against an American tech firm in a city where access to the internet—unlike in mainland China—has remained mostly unfettered, which is a key reason why global companies operate in the city.

Hong Kong’s No. 2 official, Chief Secretary

Eric Chan

Kwok-ki, told media outlets in recent weeks that the government was discussing the search results with Google and its video platform, YouTube.

“It’s about dignity and respect,” said one of the lawmakers, Duncan Chiu.

Google should take technical steps to ensure that a search for Hong Kong’s national anthem displays China’s “March of the Volunteers,” not the protest anthem, he said. 

Mr. Chiu said Hong Kong’s judicial system could determine whether the protest song’s presence on Google represents a violation of the National Security Law. 

Article 9 of the law says Hong Kong will take necessary measures to strengthen the regulation of matters relating to national security, including those that pertain to the internet. 

Like other tech firms, Google must abide by local laws in the countries where it operates.

Google is unlikely to have intentionally displayed the protest song so prominently, with algorithms likely pushing the anthem to the top of results due to its popularity, said Sandra Marco Colino, an associate law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The company could update its results so that the song is less prominent, she said.

“Another matter is whether it can be compelled to do so” legally, she said.

In 2010, Google withdrew its search-engine business in China after refusing to agree to censor its results in the country. Google executives in 2018 confirmed news reports that it had undertaken an initiative known as “Project Butterfly,” which would have brought a new search service to China. It later specified that the project had been abandoned.

While Hong Kong’s population of more than 7 million means it isn’t a major market in terms of its user base for American tech firms, foreign companies often cite the free flow of information as a reason they are based in the financial hub.

Google and other American internet firms, such as

Facebook

parent Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter Inc., said in 2020 they were suspending processing requests for user data following the imposition of the national security law.

The anthem issue erupted locally last month after “Glory to Hong Kong” was erroneously played before a game featuring Hong Kong’s rugby team at an international tournament in South Korea. Officials from the event have said the mistake was made by a junior staffer who took the track off the internet.

The incident sparked an outcry from officials and pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong and police launched a criminal investigation.

The protest anthem was again mistakenly played at a weightlifting competition in Dubai last week.

Hong Kong Police have said they are investigating the incidents. A police spokeswoman said in a statement Monday that police are “highly concerned” about the incident in Dubai and that the city’s organized crime and triad bureau is investigating.

Police arrested a harmonica player on suspicion of sedition in September after he played “Glory to Hong Kong” at a gathering of hundreds of mourners paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II outside the British diplomatic mission in the city. At least two street musicians have been prosecuted on other charges after playing it in public.

The first result in an English search for “Hong Kong national anthem” on Tuesday in Hong Kong returned the Wikipedia page for “Glory to Hong Kong,” which says it is “dubbed by some as ‘national anthem of Hong Kong.’” The song is prominently displayed on YouTube as well.

Among other popular search engines, a search on

Microsoft Corp.’s

Bing reveals among its top results a news report about the protest anthem and the Wikipedia page for China’s “March of the Volunteers.” A search on Yahoo Inc. returned the Wikipedia page for the national anthem of Hong Kong and a YouTube video of the protest song.

—Miles Kruppa and Selina Cheng contributed to this article.

Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell@wsj.com