Google Does Not to Manipulate Its Search Results Amid Hong Kong’s Protest for Its National Anthem
Faisal Ghaffar 
Google said it does not to alter its search results in the middle of a row over where the browser shows Glory to Hong King – the national anthem. Hong Kong reportedly had demanded the company that the search engine buries the results of its popular protest song.
When searching for Hong Kong’s protest song, the Google search engine shows the Chinese national anthem at the top of the search results instead. It appears with John Lee, the territory’s leader, who says it was a moral problem.
According to Google, it regularly handles countless search requests and builds ranking systems accordingly to show high-quality, relevant, and helpful information. The company does not manually influence organic results to determine a specific’s page’s ranking.
The Association Gets Wrong Music Despite Using the Right Term
It is worth mentioning that the management played March of the Volunteers – the National Anthem of China at a rugby match in a South Korean stadium in November while they were supposed to play the protest song – Glory to Hong Kong.
According to the Asia Rugby Association, the staff downloaded the wrong song after choosing the top search result for the national anthem of Hong Kong using Google’s search engine. The funny part of such an incident was the screen displayed the title of Hong Kong’s protest song, whereas the rugby game audience could hear the Chinese National Anthem in the stadium.
On the other hand, the awards ceremony in Dubai heard Glory to Hong Kong for Susanna Lin, the Chinese weightlifter.
Google Refuses the Request
Mr. Chris Tang, the security chief of Hong Kong, told the media earlier this week Google had turned down the request by the city and used its algorithm as justification. The tech giant also described Hong Kong’s request as an unconvincing one.
Chris Tang blamed Google for working with double standards. He said the company responded after the European Nation gave a verdict that Google must delete search results about individuals proving the information is untrue.
China also supported Hong Kong in the matter. On Wednesday, Wang Wenbin, the Chinese foreign ministry’s representative, said Beijing stands with the Hong Kong government as it is about upholding the dignity of our national anthems. Online companies must avoid delivering wrong information.
Beijing introduced a National Security Law or NSL in 2020 for Hong Kong. The law made it easier to put the trial protesters and reduced the city’s independence.
The police have already begun investigating if the Chinese anthem played in the South Korean stadium violated the national security law of Hong Kong. China imposed the controversial law two years back to discontinue dissent following democracy protests, saying it applies globally.
Critics called the Chinese’s NSL the end for Hong Kong, though the city always needed a security law. Hong Kong could not pass a security law for itself because it was not popular; therefore China stepped in to help the city gets a legal framework to cope with a challenge to its authority.
China and Hong Kong to Request Google Again
While Google allegedly refused Hong Kong’s request not to alter its national anthem, John Lee and Chris Tang revealed the city will make another request to the tech giant.
Google had also tangled with Hong Kong by suspending cooperation with its police on data requests after China introduced NSL and made it applicable worldwide in 2020. Besides, the company ended John Lee’s YouTube channel, saying the US had sanctioned John Lee for breaching civil liberties.
