HK urges Google to remove 164 items on its sites, 35% related to privacy issues

The Hong Kong government has urged Google to remove 164 items on its sites in the first half of this year, with over 30% related to privacy and security issues. The 164 items include five YouTube videos featuring a documentary about an imprisoned activist in the 2019 unrest in Hong Kong and a Google Drive folder URL of a form that encouraged participants to submit videos of themselves singing the protest song.

According to the latest Google Transparency Report,  the Hong Kong authorities have made 72 requests for Google to remove 164 items from January to June 2023. 57 items (35%) were related to "privacy and security", 47 items were related to "fraud", 32 items were related to “impersonation”, while the rest were under categories such as “defamation" and "national security".  According to the report, 42.7% of the requests were fulfilled.

Among the 164 items, 101 items were requested by Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF). However, only 39.6% of its requests were fulfilled, including the removal of four Google Sites URLs that allegedly impersonated local politicians in prize giveaways in an attempt to collect users' financial credentials.

Google disclosed that it had received police requests to remove five videos featuring “The HongKonger”, a documentary about an imprisoned activist from YouTube. The police stated that the content was seditious in nature and would amount to criminal contempt of court as the activist’s trial was ongoing. Meanwhile, Google did not remove the five videos from YouTube.

Furthermore, Google received a request from the Hong Kong Free Press (HKPF) to remove two videos from YouTube where the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” (願榮光歸香港) was mistakenly played as the national anthem during a sporting event. The HKPF alleged that the content was part of a conspiracy to insult the national anthem. Google did not remove the two videos from YouTube.

Don't miss: 'Let's deal with it in a legal way,' says HK tech chief over the banning of protest song

Meanwhile, Google received a request from the HKPF in May to remove one URL from Google Drive containing a form that appeared to encourage participants to submit videos of themselves singing "Glory to Hong Kong" for inclusion in a compilation video. While the police claimed the form was related to a campaign that advocates subversion of the government, in contravention of the National Security Law, Google didn’t remove the Google Drive file. 

Google pointed out that there were many reasons it may not have removed content in response to a request, according to the report. For instance, some requests may not be specific enough for it to know what the government wanted it to remove or the content might have already been removed by the author.

Don't miss: Hong Kong urges Google to remove 183 items on its sites, only 43.7% requests fulfilled

In the second half of last year, the Hong Kong government urged Google to remove 183 items on its sites, including three Google Drive folder URLs of the “Guardians of the sheep village”, a series of children’s comic books that was said to resonate with the 2019 unrest in Hong Kong.

Among the 183 items, 130 were featured on YouTube, 32 on Google Ads and five on Google Play. However, only 43.7% of the requests were fulfilled, including the removal of advertising financial scams featuring Hong Kong officials.

Related articles:

Study: We know marketers love Google's ad platforms. But why do consumers? 
The US accuses Google of unfair pricing of online ad placements 
Google podcasts shuts while YouTube axes Premium Lite subscription plan 
Taylor Swift partners Google for song reveal, 33 million puzzles solved