(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government will write to Google once again to pursue the matter of putting the correct information related to the national anthem at the top of Google’s search engine results page, Chief Executive John Lee stated today.

The Government had earlier made such a request to Google in writing, but the request was turned down. 

While addressing a question by the media concerning the matter ahead of today’s Executive Council meeting, Mr Lee said: “In regard to the inaccurate playing of our national anthem, we take it very seriously because a national anthem represents a country. It represents the people. It represents dignity.

“Any responsible organisation should act in such a way to ensure that the national anthem is played correctly to respect, first of all, each country's national anthem, to respect each country's law and also to respect the people of that country. I think that is a universal principle and if any company is in any way responsible, it has that moral obligation.

“That is (our) pursuit and we will continue to see what other things we will do. So definitely, we will send our letters to Google again to pursue this matter.

“I also note that Google has agreed to remove a person’s privacy or private data according to a judgment of the European Court. So there are ways to do it. It is a matter of whether a company acts responsibly and respects the importance of a national anthem in the global context.”