Complaints on social media about possible violation of Hong Kong laws
Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific has apologized for including an episode of Family Guy in its in-flight entertainment system that features a scene depicting Tiananmen Square. The Guardian reports this, explaining that the airline told the South China Morning Post that it had apologized to customers after a complaint was raised on social media that the incident may have breached Hong Kong’s national security laws.
“We emphasize that the content of the program does not represent the views of Cathay Pacific and we have immediately ordered the removal of the program as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the company told the broadcaster.
The US animated comedy series is known for being over the top. In the seven-second scene, main character Peter Griffin is depicted standing next to a protester in front of a row of Chinese tanks, mirroring the emblematic image of the unknown individual now known as “Tank Man” captured during the military massacre Chinese student protesters on June 4, 1989 in Beijing.
Cathay Pacific said it had ordered its third-party provider to fully investigate the incident and strengthen controls over content broadcast in flight.
The Tiananmen massacre is one of the most sensitive topics in China and is severely censored. For three decades, Hong Kong has hosted an annual vigil, sometimes with hundreds of thousands of people attending to mourn the victims.
However, following the 2019 pro-democracy protests, authorities in Hong Kong and China launched a sweeping crackdown on opposition and dissent and introduced draconian national security legislation. People who have attempted to organize or participate in Tiananmen vigils of any size since 2020 have been prosecuted.
