YouTube terminates campaign channel of sole Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee, citing need to comply with US sanctions on ex-official

Online video-sharing platform YouTube has terminated the campaign channel of Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu, citing the need to comply with US sanctions placed on the former official.

The platform, operated by US giant Google, made the rare move in taking down Lee’s YouTube channel early on Wednesday, clipping the Beijing-endorsed candidate’s ability to share videos of him meeting different sectors publicly.

In response to a Post inquiry, a Google spokesman said: “Google complies with applicable US sanctions laws and enforces related policies under its Terms of Service.

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“After review and consistent with these policies, we terminated the Johnlee2022 YouTube channel.”

All content on Lee’s YouTube page has been removed, with a message saying: “This account has been terminated for violating Google’s Terms of Service.”

Lee’s campaign office director, Tam Yiu-chung, said they had received a notification from Google on Wednesday morning. He called the termination “totally unreasonable” and “regretful”.

“They will not be able to stop us from disseminating our election messages to the public. We will continue to use different channels and work hard for the campaign,” he said in the afternoon.

“The decision was so abrupt, and Google’s explanation is too simple. It is totally unreasonable.”

Since Lee announced his bid for the top post on April 9, he has been communicating with an Election Committee filled predominantly with pro-Beijing members from different sectors online, while broadcasting their meetings via YouTube and Facebook channels.

As of Wednesday, Lee’s campaign pages on Facebook and Instagram were operating smoothly. He was still broadcasting his meeting with the sports, performing arts, culture and publication subsector of the Election Committee, the body that picks the chief executive, in the afternoon.

Latest US sanctions on Hong Kong draw a collective shrug from analysts

Lee has been under US sanctions since 2020, along with at least a dozen former and current officials involved in the implementation of the Beijing-imposed national security law, which bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Under the economic sanctions, brought by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the US-based assets of individuals or entities are blocked and Americans and businesses are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

At the time, Lee was Hong Kong’s security minister, before the former policeman won promotion to chief secretary, the city’s No 2 official.

As security chief he accused the US of double standards and hypocrisy, saying: “Maintaining national security is a matter of justice and duty. The United States wants to ... intimidate, and it will not succeed.”

More to follow ...

Additional reporting by Tony Cheung

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