The Reign of Social Media Influence: Hong Kong Occupy Movement Protests
In this current age of technology, social media is the ultimate weapon for protestors. It is the use of social media that enables the successful spread knowledge of the Hong Kong pro-democracy Occupy Movement worldwide, gaining international attention and increasing support, as well as successfully mobilizing citizens.
In 1997, the British Commonwealth relinquished control of Hong Kong, allowing China to take charge. However, as a crucial economic port for China, Hong Kong was allowed to remain semi-autonomous, as compared to the freedom-restricted mainland China. The framework is popularly known as the “one country, two systems” model. During the handover period between Beijing and London, there was an agreement to allow “universal suffrage for chief executive elections”, beginning in 2017. On August 31, Beijing announced that voters would indeed be able to select their leader (chief executive) in 2017, but that citizens would only be able to vote from China-approved candidates, namely only the fiercely loyal to China’s Communist reign would have the opportunity of appointment. Outraged citizens took charge, and by September 22, students at more than 20 universities and colleges initiated a boycott of classes and peaceful pro-democracy protests. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have enabled protesters to gain attention internationally, with countries such as the United States and United Kingdom criticizing China’s anti-democratic announcement.
Hong Kong protestors have been keeping the rest of the world well-informed through social media. Photos of the vast amount of protestors have gained public attention, with the phrases “Occupy Central” (the pro-democracy group) and “Umbrella Revolution” (as all the protestors have umbrellas to use as barricades, and weather protectors) have taken the Twitter sphere by storm, with more than 1.3 million tweets spreading about Hong Kong protests since September 26. The Chinese government is aggressively focused on censoring all media accessible to Chinese mainlanders to prevent any support or knowledge about the Hong Kong protests, and fundamentally to maintain governmental power. The government has gone so far as to block universal information spreading applications such as Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. Clever internet users just use alternate applications and continue to spread word of the protests.
On September 29, Hong Kong police tried to disperse crowds through the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and baton charges, although the protesters had been peaceful. Once news of this spread to social media, the international world was aghast. The United States Secretary of State John Kerry commented, urging the Chinese government to show restraint towards the pro-democracy protesters. In addition, the British deputy prime minister also expressed concerns about protester-riot police conflicts. The use of social media effectively spread the message of government oppression, and Hong Kong police ceased their attacks. This must be credited in large part to social media, which allowed the world to see
International supporters of the cause continue to spread, with petitions for the ousting of China-approved chief executive C.Y. Leung, and yellow ribbons sprouting up, as yellow is the identifying colour of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. It is this effective and strategic use of social media to show the rest of the world what is happening in Hong Kong. In a predominantly pro-democratic world, this utilization of social media is what allows for increased support for the cause, as well as demonstrates the high degree of influence that social media has, particularly in the international world.