- 4 A - comments advocating the separation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) from the People’s B A B Republic of China (“PRC”). C D C (2) emerging on YouTube, and attracted a large number of views and comments, many of which advocated the separation of the E HKSAR from the PRC. F G The Song immediately became popular, with variations (3) D E F In September 2019, the Song was released on major online G music platforms. As at 1 June 2023, there were at least 9 H videos of the Song available on YouTube, attracting 6 million viewers and over 200,000 “likes”. I There were 19 other H I channels on YouTube publishing different variations of the J Song. further and unrestricted dissemination. Police investigations K found 9,118 comments capable of inciting secession. L M And each of the videos can be “shared”, thus allowing (4) Between 2019 and 2022, the Song had been sung by protestors J K L M in at least 413 public order events, some of which involved N violent and other unlawful behaviour and the chanting of secessionist or seditious slogans. O Some of the defendants N O who had since been convicted of offences endangering P national security had organized events which involved singing the Song or advocating it as “the Hong Kong’s national Q P Q anthem” as if Hong Kong were an independent state. R S R (5) As at 1 June 2023, the Song or its variants had been wrongly S represented as the “national anthem of Hong Kong” for 887 T U V times, including in some international sports events. This is probably due to the existence of videos of the Song on T U V