Google searches for ‘secessionist' online game surge in Hong Kong after national security warning
Google searches for mobile game Reversed Front: Bonfire have surged in Hong Kong after the city's authorities warned that downloading the game app may violate national security laws.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, the game app vanished from Hong Kong's App Store, less than 24 hours after the warning was issued.
Hong Kong's national security police said in a statement issued at around 6pm on Tuesday that Reversed Front: Bonfire – created by Taiwanese developers ESC Taiwan – promotes secessionist agendas, advocates 'armed revolution' and the overthrow of the 'fundamental system of the People's Republic of China.'
Anyone who publishes related content, including sharing the game online, may be accused of inciting secession and inciting subversion, both offences under the Beijing-imposed national security law, police said. Doing so may also violate the city's homegrown national security law, also known as Article 23, which criminalises 'offences in connection with seditious intention.'
On Wednesday afternoon, Google Trends, a tool that measures the frequency of search queries, showed that 逆統戰 – the Chinese name of the mobile game – was the most searched topic in the city, followed by AFC Asian Cup qualifiers – after Hong Kong defeated India 1-0 in a Tuesday evening match – and the Hong Kong Observatory.
Google recorded more than 20,000 searches for the game over the past 21 hours – an increase of 1,000 per cent.
Apart from warning against downloading the game app, police also urged those who have downloaded it to 'uninstall it immediately.'
Netizens commented on Facebook, saying that 'thanks to the government, now I know there is such a game.'
According to the description on the gaming platform Steam, Reversed Front takes players through a war 'to overthrow the communist regime.' Players can assume different roles, such as Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, and Mongolia.
According to a BBC report in 2020, ESC Taiwan raised around NT$19 million (HK$4.5 million) online to create a similarly themed tabletop game.
Amidst the controversy over protest song Glory to Hong Kong last year, Google Trends suggested upticks in interest that correlated with times when the song had been misplayed at sporting events, or when the government had published press releases or made legal moves against it.
Taken down from App Store
Reversed Front: Bonfire was initially available on both Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. However, it was removed from the Play Store in May for failing to ban players from using hate speech, according to Reversed Front's social media post.
When HKFP checked at around 8pm on Tuesday, the app could no longer be found on Hong Kong's Play Store but was still available on the App Store in the city.
However, at around 10am on Wednesday, the app disappeared from the App Store in Hong Kong.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon, Reversed Front said that the game was the most downloaded app on Hong Kong's App Store.
HKFP has reached out to Apple for comment.
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