The Washington Post has a story about China and Hong Kong’s ban on the pro-democracy song “Glory to Hong Kong“:

The Hong Kong government is appealing a July decision by a local court to deny its request for an injunction preventing “Glory to Hong Kong” from being published or otherwise distributed by any means and on any platform. According to the state, the lyrics to the unofficial pro-democracy protest anthem (“Liberate our Hong Kong, in common breath; Revolution of our times!”) “stir up emotions.” That the tune is already banned under the city’s draconian national security law, apparently, isn’t enough. And a ruling by the judiciary that an injunction would be overkill isn’t to be endured.

China’s government has already sent people to jail for performing the song, and it wants it scrubbed from the internet — pressuring Meta, Twitter, Spotify, and Google to remove the song from their platforms. So far, the government has gotten nowhere with these companies.

It made me think of the documentary called the Singing Revolution. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Here is the description from the documentary’s website:

Most people don’t think about singing when they think about revolution. But song was the weapon of choice when Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. The Singing Revolution is an inspiring account of one nation’s dramatic rebirth. It is the story of humankind’s irrepressible drive for freedom and self-determination.

It was such a wonderful film and a reminder of how evil communism is in practice — illustrating how songs can be more than just a song; they can bring hope, preserve tradition and culture and give courage in a battle against oppression.

Here is a brief history of censored songs in the US. It was, thankfully, much shorter than I assumed it would be, especially compared to this list of French songs censored between 1950 and 1962.