Since the beginning of the movement in Hong Kong, social media is one of the tools Hong Kongers has used to make a stand for or against the movement, mobilise for the protest, spread news and debate. Not only protesters fight against police brutality and fight for democracy in the streets, but they also fight for support in the battlefield on the internet. Social media is one of the tools that Hong Kongers living abroad and foreigners use to show support to the protesters. Protesters also utilize social media to raise people’s attention about the protest in Hong Kong.
Facebook is one of the social media sites that people use to express political views. Pro-democratic Facebook pages like Apple Daily, a local news media, are usually filled with comments by protesters and their supporters while pro-government Facebook pages like HK01, another local news media, are read by mostly people opposing the protest. The way people from two camps receive messages widens the gap between them.
LIHKG is a local forum used by protesters to discuss current events and protest strategies. The forum was attacked on August 31, the day protesters took to the streets before schools started. The administrator of the forum claimed that the attack was unprecedented and the scale was so big that they believed a national level power organised the attack. The forum was attacked again on October 1, the national day of China. The attacked was 10 times stronger than the attack on August 31. The power behind the attack is still unknown. The users believed that the forum was attacked because protesters use it to mobilize and communicate.
How China joined the battle
On August 13, in an airport rally, some protesters spotted a Chinese Fu Guohao taking close-up photos of protesters, which is a taboo among protesters because they are afraid of being recognised and getting arrested once the photos go online. Claiming to be a journalist, Fu could not show any identification proving that he is a journalist and consequently he was suspected by protesters. He was later tied up and even beat by protesters with a “I love Hong Kong police” T-shirt found in his personal belongings. Rescued by first aiders, Fu shouted, “I support Hong Kong police, so you can beat me now,” which has been utilised by People’s Daily, the official newspaper of Chinese government as a slogan to show support to Hong Kong police. Chinese celebrities shared the photo showing supporting to Hong Kong police including the main female character Liu Yifei in the upcoming Disney movie Mulan. Protesters then initiated #boycottmulan on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter since they think supporting police is equivalent to supporting police brutality.
On August 14, the Chinese actress Liu Yifei posted a photo on Weibo which says “I support Hong Kong Police. You can beat me now,” which marked the beginning of #boycottmulan on social media.
Weibo, a social networking platform similar to Facebook and Twitter, is used by mostly Chinese netizens. People’s Daily, the newspaper supported by Chinese government, posted news on Weibo and described Hong Kong protesters as “violent rioters”. They also characterized the protest as aiming at seeking independence which will destroy Chinese sovereignty. Since Google, Youtube and Facebook are blocked in China, Weibo is one of the websites Chinese can use to get information although some manage to get access to those censored websites by VPN.
Struggles between money and freedom
Apart from conflicts between pro-democratic protesters and police’s supporters, the battle on the internet has grown on an international scale. Multinationals like NBA and Blizzard found themselves struggling between the business interests in China and safeguarding democratic values and freedom.
Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets of the NBA posted a picture on twitter saying “Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” on October 5. His action infuriated Chinese netizens and they initiated a boycott on NBA. Chinese media like Tencent and state television channel CCTV announced that they would stop live broadcast of NBA. On October 6, the NBA released a statement saying that Morey’s tweet offended Chinese fans and his tweet does not represent the NBA or the Rockets. American politicians also expressed their views on Twitter, such as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Bob Menendez, supporting Hong Kong protesters and condemning the NBA for bowing down in front of profits that the huge Chinese market can bring. Despite the boycott started by Chinese netizens, the warm-up match of the NBA in Shanghai on October 10 was still full of Chinese audience. On October 13, Tencent resumed the live streaming of NBA matches.
Responses from Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz with regard to the NBA incident.
On October 10, the stadium was filled with Chinese audience watching the warm-up match of the NBA. (Source: CNA)
Not only NBA but the video game developer Blizzard Entertainment also faced similar situation. A Hong Kong gamer Ng Wai Chung with his game name Blitzchung shouted “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times” during a gaming interview on October 6. Two days later, Blizzard announced that Blitzchung will be removed from the tournament that he took part in and will be suspended for future events for 12 months because of violating the official rules of the tournament. Blizzard’s decision received backlash from gamers all round the world. Gamers also called for boycotts of Blizzard and #boycottBlizzard became a trend on Twitter. Claiming that their relationship with China does not influence the decision on Blitzchung, Blizzard President J. Allen Brack announced on October 12 that the suspension on Blitzchung will be reduced from 12 months to 6 months.
The famous Youtuber PewDiePie talked about the Blizzard incident in his video on October 16 and pointed out that Blizzard punished Blitzchung in order to please China and its huge market. Mocking about Chinese president and Blizzard, “PewDiePie” later became a censored word on Chinese social media websites and all his videos were deleted. PewDiePie has no concern with Chinese market as his videos are all in Youtube. His Chinese fans can watch his videos because some Chinese who have access to Youtube re-upload PewDiePie’s videos to Chinese websites.
Although 2 million Hong Kongers marched on June 16, both Hong Kong government and Chinese government claimed that there is still “a silent majority” which disagree with protesters. However, in the District Council election on November 24, pro-democratic bloc won 392 over 452 seats which shows that the majority stands with the protesters. While protesters are celebrating the victory, most Chinese netizens expressed disappointment towards the results as they thought “violent rioters” are the minority. The election result acts as an indicator of what the majority of Hong Kongers think about the protest. Some Chinese netizens even wondered why there is such a big gap between their expectation and the reality of Hong Kong situation. Despite the victory in the election, protesters urged to resume the battle in the streets as they claim what Hong Kong needs is institutional change.
WAN Tsz Tung, Ruby