He said authorities will review each case and decide on appropriate measures - including penalties should the associations were found disregarding the relevant guidelines.

The Hong Kong leader also noted that the mistakes occurred mainly due to incorrect results shown on the search engine Google.

"We have learnt that [these incidents] mainly involve the incorrect results on Google's search engine, and we believe that as a large organization, there should be a moral and legal responsibility to protect the national anthem," Lee said.

He said the administration is in discussions with Google to fix the problem, and pointed out that the tech giant's policies state that incorrect or illegal information should not appear in its search results.

"If such results do appear, they have methods to remove or correct them," Lee added.

Meanwhile, Lee will travel to Beijing starting today to attend the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress, and will stay a week in the capital to promote and put forward the SAR's agenda.

The chief executive said he will lead a delegation of eight bureau chiefs to visit mainland leaders to exchange views on different policies and hope to gain their support for Hong Kong's governance and policies.

He also congratulated President Xi Jinping on his re-election, saying it "represents President Xi's leadership in guiding China into a new stage".