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Activist Removed From Streaming Services
The music of Canto-pop star Denise Ho is no longer available on Chinese streaming platforms, nor is it available for downloading at the mainland Chinese iTunes store, according to China Digital Times.
Photo: AP Photo / Vincent Yu
Cantonese pop singer and outspoken activist Denise Ho, left, performs during a free concert at a street in Hong Kong June 19.
Ho was dropped several months ago from a corporate-sponsored concert event when anti-democracy forces on the mainland figured out she was a vocal supporter of the Hong Kong democracy movement. She was also the first celebrity ever arrested during the “Umbrella Movement,” also known as Occupy Central, in 2014.
CDT quotes a Weibo microblog user as saying that Ho’s songs and related content have been “filtered or deleted” from music and video streaming sites.
Searches for “Denise Ho” on almost every such site are blocked, though her nickname, HOCC, can still get through. In addition, any writing about Ho seems to have been removed on several sites, and a duet she performed with fellow Canto-pop star Eason Chan has also been removed from all streaming sites except one, and even there she isn’t credited with singing on the track.