Democratic group Alliance for True Democracy has criticised Youtube after an advertisement they made to promote their proposal for universal suffrage was removed for “political advertising – China.”
The move by Youtube is sure to be faced with dissaproval from Hongkongers.
Despite freedom of speech being protected by Hong Kong law, Beijing recently issued a white paper that was a rather ominous reminder to Hong Kong that while we may have autonomy, the central government still holds “comprehensive jurisdiction” over us.
The white paper was issued less than two weeks before the Occupy Central poll was scheduled to begin. The poll will take place over three days, starting this Friday, and will determine which of the three shortlisted models for electoral reform will be endorsed by the civil disobedience movement.
The Alliance for True Democracy paid for their video, which was made to promote their proposed model for the 2017 chief executive election, to run before Youtube videos for viewers in Hong Kong.
While sobering, there is some irony to be found in the censorship of the video, considering that Youtube itself is one of the major sites that has been censored in China.
The universal suffrage movement must be used to scare tactics by now, with a failed cyberattack on the voting system having taken place last weekend. However, the alliance remains unfazed by the censorship incident, with alliance convenor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek telling South China Morning Post: “There are still many other online channels on which we can promote our proposal.”
Youtube has yet to comment on the matter.
You can watch the commercial via the South China Morning Post below:
