Hong Kong bans video game using national security laws

Hong Kong authorities have warned their residents against downloading a Taiwan-made game called Reversed Front: Bonfire, which they're accusing of advocating for armed revolution and promoting "secessionist agendas, such as 'Taiwan independence' and 'Hong Kong independence.'" As Bloomberg notes, this is the first time the special administrative region of China has invoked national security laws to ban a video game. The legislation, a national law from Beijing and a local security law passed in 2024, are supposed to address perceived threats and require internet service providers to comply with government mandate. Chinese authorities had previously ordered Google to block access to the protest song Glory to Hong Kong in the region. 

Reversed Front: Bonfire was developed by a group known as ESC Taiwan, who are outspoken critics of the China's Communist Party. The game disappeared from the Apple App Store in Hong Kong less than 24 hours after authorities issued the warning. Google already removed the game from the Play Store back in May, because players were using hate speech as part of their usernames. ESC Taiwan told The New York Times that that the game's removal shows that apps like theirs are subject to censorship in mainland China. The group also thanked authorities for the free publicity on Facebook, as the game experienced a surge in Google searches.

The game uses anime-style illustrations and allows players to fight against China's Communist Party by taking on the role of "propagandists, patrons, spies or guerrillas" from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Mongolia and Xinjiang, which is home to ethnic minorities like the Uyghur. That said, they can also choose to play as government soldiers.

In its warning, Hong Kong Police said that anybody who shares or recommends the game on the internet may be committing several offenses, including "incitement to secession, "incitement to subversion" and "offenses in connection with seditious intention." Anybody who has downloaded the game will be considered in "possession of a publication that has a seditious intention," and anybody who provides financial assistance to it will be violating national security laws, as well. "Those who have downloaded the application should uninstall it immediately and must not attempt to defy the law," the authorities wrote.

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