Hong Kong’s government has asked a court to ban a popular song which became an unofficial anthem for the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said it had applied for an injunction on Monday to make it illegal to perform or disseminate the protest song – Glory to Hong Kong – in a bid to prevent people from inciting secession or insulting China’s national anthem.

“Recently, the song has also been mistakenly presented as the ‘national anthem of Hong Kong’ repeatedly,” the government said in a statement.

“This has not only insulted the national anthem but also caused serious damage to the country and the HKSAR.”

The government is also trying to ban 32 videos of the song on YouTube, including the English, Dutch and Japanese versions.

The injunction application comes after the song has been played at several global events, including an ice hockey competition in February.

Hong Kong does not have its own anthem.

The protest anthem was mistakenly played instead of the Chinese national anthem – March of the Volunteers – after the Hong Kong ice hockey team defeated Iran at an international competition.

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Google has said it will not modify its search results to display China’s national anthem instead of the protest song when users search for Hong Kong’s anthem.

Demonstrators in the former British colony regarded Glory to Hong Kong as their national anthem when it was composed in 2019 during the protests against a now-shelved extradition bill that allowed for suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.

In 2020, the song was forbidden in schools due to a national security law enforced by China on the financial hub to penalise actions such as secession, subversion, terrorism, and alignment with foreign entities, resulting in potential life imprisonment.

The administration is currently awaiting directives from the court, and a hearing date has yet to be scheduled.

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