National security laws were invoked to ban a video game for the first time, broadening the use of the set of legislation to fend off perceived threats.
Police in the semiautonomous Chinese city warned residents on Tuesday not to download Reversed Front: Bonfire, a Taiwanese-made mobile game they accuse of advocating armed revolution and overthrowing the government in Beijing.
Authorities have taken “disabling action on electronic messages” related to the game, according to a government statement.
The move against the app marked the first known use of a 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law and local security legislation passed last year to block a video game.
The government previously asked Google to restrict access to a protest song, which the company initially resisted until an appeals court confirmed an injunction.
Launched in April, the game was not available on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in Hong Kong as of yesterday morning.
The game’s developer in May said Google Play removed it from the platform for failing to prevent players from using hate speech wording in usernames.
The enforcement is the latest in a series of steps authorities have taken to bolster its national security safeguards.
The government in May implemented new measures to facilitate the work of Beijing’s national security office in the city, citing “increasingly turbulent global geopolitical” risks without providing details.
The app allows players to align themselves with Hong Kong, Tibet or Taiwan to fight the Communist regime, according to the game’s official website. Alternatively, players can choose to lead the Communist forces, whose rule the app describes as “heavy-handed, reckless and inept”.
Residents sharing the game may commit the offense of inciting secession and subversion, and downloading it may be seen as possessing a publication that has a seditious intention, according to the government announcement.
“Those who have downloaded the application should uninstall it immediately and must not attempt to defy the law,” the statement read.
Under the implementation rules for the 2020 law, the government may require a platform service provider to take a disabling action on an electronic message if its publication is deemed likely to endanger national security.
Service providers failing to comply face a fine of US$100,000 (RM423,000) and imprisonment of up to 6 months.
The Hong Kong government have signalled a continued emphasis on national security even as it vows to focus on supporting growth, which has been challenged by China’s slowdown and an uncertain external environment. — Bloomberg
