HONG KONG — Hong Kong police on Tuesday warned people against downloading and using a gaming app that it says advocates "armed revolution" and the overthrow of the "fundamental system" of Mainland China.
Anyone who downloads or uses the app, or makes in-app purchases in it, would be violating the city's controversial national security law, the police said in a statement on Tuesday.
The crackdown on the gaming app and its users is just the latest in what democracy and human rights advocates say is an erosion of Hong Kong's civil rights and freedoms since Beijing implemented a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020. Hong Kong beefed up the law last year, passing legislation that toughened punishment for dissent, including life in prison for acts considered insurrectionist.
Hong Kong police say the mobile game Reversed Front: Bonfire intentionally provokes hatred towards central authorities and the Hong Kong government. Hong Kong residents or companies who knowingly publish the gaming app, share it or recommend it to others may be seen as inciting secession and subversion, authorities warned.
The game, published by ESC Taiwan, allows players to "pledge allegiance to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Tibet, Kazakhs, Uyghur, Manchuria or the Rebel Alliance of Cathaysian and Southeast Asia to overthrow the Communist regime," according to the game's website. Or players can "choose to lead the Communists to defeat all enemies, and resume the century-long march of the Communist revolution."
The game's website calls it a work of nonfiction. "Any similarity to actual agencies, policies or ethnic groups of the [People's Republic of China] in this game is INTENTIONAL," the website states.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But on the game's Instagram page, the company posted a screenshot of a local TV news report about the game being labeled a national security violation, and thanked the broadcaster for introducing the game to all of Hong Kong.
The tongue-in-cheek post may be a reference to the fact that the game does not appear to be very popular.
The number of downloads is not public, but as of Wednesday the game has fewer than 360 ratings on the Apple and Google app stores combined. Popular mobile game apps, such as Call of Duty or Block Blast, have millions of ratings.
Still, the app was worthy of police attention, which comes as no surprise to Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch.
Hong Kong has been at the top of the Chinese Communist Party's agenda for repression in recent years, Wang said in an email to NPR.
As such, "Hong Kong authorities must constantly keep finding something and someone to target in order to signal to Beijing that it is diligent and that it is taking "national security" very seriously," she said.
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