Google says it does not change search results amid Hong Kong anthem row
File photo of Google logo.
Google on Thursday said that it does not manipulate search results amid a row over the national anthem of Hong Kong. The controversy started when people searching for Hong Kong's anthem online, found that links to a protest song (song of the city's pro-democracy movement) ''Glory to Hong Kong'' appeared ahead of the Chinese national anthem "March of the Volunteers".
Speaking to news agency AFP, Google said that it handles ''billions of search queries every day'', so it builds ranking systems to automatically surface relevant, high-quality, and helpful information.
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"We do not manually manipulate organic web listings to determine the ranking of a specific page," Google said. The tech giant added it was in contact with the Hong Kong government to explain how its platforms and removal policies work.
"We do not remove web results except for specific reasons outlined in our global policy documentation," Google further said.
The clarification came two days after Hong Kong's security chief Chris Tang said that Google refused to change its search results to display China's national anthem rather than the protest song.
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"We've approached Google to request that they put the correct national anthem at the top of their search results, but unfortunately Google refused," Tang said on Monday, news agency Reuters reported.
Apart from Tang, Hong Kong leader John Lee said this week that the tech giant had a ''moral obligation'' to respect a nation's national anthem.
The Chinese foreign ministry, meanwhile, said that internet companies had a duty to deliver correct information to the public.
"Glory to Hong Kong", written in 2019, was accidentally played for Hong Kong athletes at two international sporting events in November this year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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