[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] YouTube has shut down the election campaign channel of John Lee, the former Chief Secretary for Administration who has been virtually elected as the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 20th, a Google spokesperson responded to SCMP's inquiry by saying, "Google complies with relevant U.S. sanctions and enforces related policies according to its terms of service," adding, "After reviewing these policies, we closed the 'JohnLee2022' YouTube channel."
Currently, the channel displays a message stating, "This account has been terminated for violating Google's Terms of Service," and all content has been removed.
Since declaring his candidacy for the Chief Executive election on the 9th, former Secretary Lee has been broadcasting exchanges with pro-China dominated Election Committee members through YouTube and other platforms.
After the Chinese government implemented the Hong Kong National Security Law in June 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions two months later on 11 Hong Kong and Chinese officials, including Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Former Secretary Lee, who was then the Secretary for Security in Hong Kong, was also included in the sanctions list.
Lee's election campaign team said they received the channel closure notice on the morning of the same day and told SCMP that it was "unreasonable and regrettable."
They added, "It was a sudden decision, and Google's explanation was too brief," and said, "They will not be able to stop us from delivering our election messages to the public. We will use other channels."
The election campaign accounts currently established on Facebook and Instagram are operating normally.
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