In the legislative election held later that year, Youngspiration, which was cooperating with Hong Kong Indigenous as Leung was banned from running by the Electoral Affairs Commission, also used the slogan for their campaign.

The Hong Kong government announced in an official statement on 2 July 2020 that anyone who uses the slogan can be prosecuted under the national security law which commenced on 30 June 2020.

[1] On 27 July 2021, in a landmark ruling, the first person to be charged under the law of "incitement to secession" for displaying a banner bearing the slogan was found guilty.

At the press conference where Leung originally announced his bid for the 2016 New Territories East by-election, his campaign slogan was "Walk the talk, innovation for our generation" (知行合一，世代革新).

"[11] Other variations include: In January 2016, Edward Leung announced his candidacy for the Legislative Council's New Territories East by-election, with the main purpose being the promotion of the ideologies of Hong Kong Indigenous and the localist camp.

[5][16][17] Previously, Hong Kong Indigenous suggested "Safeguarding local values with force" in order to achieve the goal of "My city, therefore I defend it.

"[18] On 8 February the same year, after the Mong Kok civil unrest, Leung presented "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" and "Confronting violence with force" as campaign themes and slogans.

[25][26] During the election, Leung advocated the stances of "Using force to resist violence" and "Liberate Hong Kong," leading to a polarised public opinion.

[22] In the LegCo election held later that year, Youngspiration also used "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" as their campaign slogan, naming three candidates including Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching.

[37][38] In response, political parties and LegCo members of the pro-Beijing camp issued a joint statement, in which they said the behaviour of "liberation" and "revolution" promoted Hong Kong independence and were illegal acts against the Basic Law and the principle of one country, two systems.

[13][42][43] Blitzchung stated in an interview afterwards that he had done the act of protest because "I put so much effort in that social movement in the past few months, that I sometimes couldn't focus on preparing my Grandmaster match.

[48] On Twitter, the hashtag #BoycottBlizzard trended worldwide, with notable participation of former Blizzard employee and World of Warcraft team lead Mark Kern,[49] who showed he was cancelling his subscription to his own game.

[55] Also on 1 July 2020, Tong Ying-kit, a 24-year-old waiter, became the first person charged under the security law after he struck police officers with his motorcycle while carrying a flag with the slogan printed on it.

[1] The national security law, combined with the government statement on the slogan, has caused some pro-democracy businesses and media to remove material that became potentially illegal.

[61] Annie Zhang [zh], the former editor in chief of Initium Media, said that the slogan was the result of the protest movement not achieving its goals, leading to a strong wish for an escalation of tactics and a revolution.

"[22] Teddy Tang, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools [zh], said that the slogan demonstrated the belief held by protesters that what they were doing was just, and that they were willing to deal with any consequences in achieving their goals.

[62] Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa said that protesters' behaviour began challenging the principle of "one country, two systems" and the Central People's Government's authority when the protests turned from surrounding the legislature to storming the Liaison Office and the slogans turned from "anti-extradition bill" to "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.

[7][64] In August 2019, a Xinhua News Agency opinion piece thought that the term "liberate" demonstrated the "political conspiracy" of "radical figures" in Hong Kong, "severely challenging the baseline of 'one country, two systems'.

[69] Following the entering into effect of the 2020 national security law, scholars and politicians from mainland China and Hong Kong have expressed various interpretations on the slogan's connotations.

"[70] Tam Yiu-chung, a pro-Beijing politician and NPCSC member, expressed on a radio talk show that the term "liberate" (光復) does not carry a positive connotation and should be avoided.

[74] Anita Yip, vice-president of the Hong Kong Bar Association, said on a radio programme that she "cannot agree" that the slogan alone is enough to prosecute a person under the national security law.