User:Fitzinator2/Media activism

Hong Kong[edit]

Umbrellas in action.

In 1997 Great Britain handed over the control of Hong Kong to mainland China. A special agreement was created as a means of protection for Hong Kong called "one country, two systems" to ensure the territory remained independent from mainland China for at least 50 years. The agreement would allow Hong Kong to enjoy its political, socioeconomic and legal arrangements under a unified China. In 2017 China agreed to allow democratic elections in Hong Kong to proceed, but only from a list of candidates pre-approved by the mainland. Doing so would ensure the elected official would not be in opposition to China’s government and ensure they would love China and love Hong Kong. In defiance towards China's decision tens of thousands, many of whom where students, took to the streets to protest. The protest was labeled the umbrella movement due to the use of umbrellas by protesters to protect themselves from the tear gas the police used as a form of suppression.

Social media played a role in the formation of the outrage towards China’s stance of Hong Kong’s autonomy. The chat and photo uploading functions of Facebook and WhatsApp in particular proved to be the popular choice for real-time connective action amongst protestors. The social media platforms reduced the time and cost required for the development of the necessary ties among the activists.

Social media also played a role in the garnering of support for the umbrella movement outside of Hong Kong. A Facebook campaign started at Harvard encouraged university students from the US and Canada to wear yellow ribbons on October first, the main day of the protest. This display was a means of showing solidarity with the movement and a way to spread word of the protest. The hashtag #UmbrellaRevolution trended during the time of the protest. Under the hashtag were pictures of citizens from cities such as San Francisco, Perth and Berlin showing their support of the movement in Hong Kong. Ironically citizens within China’s border were left out of the social media loop. During the protests China blocked access to Instagram while Facebook and Twitter were already restricted within its borders.

While social media played a role in the protests in Hong Kong it did not serve as the main catalyst for the protests like some other movements. Even though social media was critical in the initial mobilization of the large-scale protest the tipping point for the movement came when images were broadcast out on local media of protestors being teargassed. These images emotionally impacted individuals who did not utilize social media platforms. While social media played a role in the initiation of the movement the broadcast of the teargassing moved it from the fringes into a mass movement.