Somewhere in June the demonstrations in Hong Kong started, which are already called the largest demonstrations in the history of the city. Every day more and more demonstrators join the protest, which unfortunately don’t always end well (le Clercq, 2019). The main cause for these protests is the proposition of a new law for extradition, which makes it possible to extradite suspects to countries that Hong Kong does not have an extradition agreement with. However, it seems that technology has given the demonstrators more motivation to keep protesting.
Hong Kong is known for its electronic malls and is blanketed with high-speed internet. So when the protests began, it was more than natural that many people went online to look for information and guidance. However, this also makes it possible for demonstrators and journalists to live-stream everything from massive marches to interferences by the police. These live-streams can be played by every inhabitant of Hong Kong and help creating a sense of solidarity and belonging. Even demonstrators can watch the live-streams while marching along with the people that are filming, so they can see what is happening fifty yards ahead (Haas, 2019).
It is not the first time that technology has played an important role in protest movements. Social media and online messaging have been influential in the information war against Qaddafi in 2011 and the Arab Spring protests that spread around the Middle East and North Africa in the early 2010s (Pollock, 2012)(Tufekci, 2018). However, Hong Kong has developed some new tools of its own, too.
Maps are published during demonstrations, which are continuously updated, showing with color codes the location of the police, ‘thugs’, demonstrators, first aid points and supply stations. The information is put together by a person that is on the ground, drawing on an iPad and sending it to and integrator. He or she then compares this information with live-streams, puts it together and then sends it over Telegram or Apple’s Airdrop. However, it goes even further than this. Demonstrators are doing everything to remain unrecognizable. They are only using secure digital messaging apps (such as Telegram), taking no selfies, buying single-ride subway tickets, changing their name and SIM-card and wearing face masks because they fear that facial-recognition software is used (Haas, 2019)(Mahtani, 2019).
Different claims have risen from the demonstrators. ‘This moment is the last change for Hong Kong, or the next generation won’t even know what privacy is’. ‘We have created whole new ways of resisting’. ‘China is good in monitoring their people, I’m afraid that will happen to Hong Kong too’. In my opinion, these statements don’t contain the political and economic nature that was the reason for protesting in the first place. Is it still about achieving these goals, or simply about outsmarting the government? What do you think?
References:
Haas, B. (2019). The new battle in Hong Kong isn’t on the streets; it’s in the apps. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614286/the-new-battle-in-hong-kong-isnt-on-the-streets-its-in-the-apps/
Mahtani, S. (2019). Masks, cash and apps: How Hong Kong’s protesters find ways to outwit the surveillance state. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/masks-cash-and-apps-how-hong-kongs-protesters-find-ways-to-outwit-the-surveillance-state/2019/06/15/8229169c-8ea0-11e9-b6f4-033356502dce_story.html?noredirect=on
Le Clercq, P. (2019). Grote onrust in Hong Kong, wat speelt er eigenlijk? Retrieved from https://www.rtlz.nl/beurs/artikel/4812416/onrust-hongkong-china-2047-1997-uitleveringsverdrag-economie-beurs
Pollock, J. (2012). People Power 2.0. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/427640/people-power-20/?set=500346&set=500346
Tufekci, Z. (2018). How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611806/how-social-media-took-us-from-tahrir-square-to-donald-trump/
Hi Milou, I have liked your post.
I think the Hong Kong protestors aren’t fighting for political and economic independency. History of Hong Kong shows, that Hong Kong belonged to China before 1888. Great-Brittain had ‘lend’ Hong Kong from the Chinese for 99 years. In 1997 China and GB agreed on a 50-year transition period for Hong Kong, before it would lose their independency and it would be part of China. So, the people of Hong Kong know, that they lose their independency in 2047. They are afraid, that China is going to shorten this period. The sign that it was happening started, when the Hong Kong government wanted to push through a bill to extradite convicted criminals to the mainland of China, where human rights are likely worse than in Hong Kong (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9414104/relationship-conflict-between-china-hong-kong/).
Right now, Hong Kong tops the ranking of Economic Freedom in the world with a score of 90,2, whereas China is ranked 100th with a score of 58,4 (https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking). There is a huge difference between the freedom in each country. The extradition law would restrict the freedom of the population of Hong.
So, I do think the deeper meaning of the statements in your last paragraph is definitely political. The privacy of inhabitants are at stake. They want to enjoy their political freedom as long as possible, while China is ‘knocking’ at their door.
Hi Stanley,
If you put it that way, the statements that I mentioned could definitely have a deeper political meaning. I can imagine that it can be really terrifying that your political freedom and privacy is at stake, especially when you have enjoyed it for quite some time. However, I hope that the people of Hong Kong will also keep that in mind and still capture this deeper meaning, instead of just keep punching back just because they can. Thanks for you addition!
Such an interesting use of technology! I think that such levels of coordination are occurring to the extent to which the people can match the reach of the government. And therefore i think to answer your question, i would say that it is more about outsmarting the government to attempt to not be shut down. It must be quite scary knowing how the AI technologies and filmed incidences will likely follow you forever, and as technology gets better, I think people will continue innovating as well.
If I step aside from the political, I think that the effect of live video streaming services that are now available to users practically for free from their mobile devices, it a continual problem. It enables the world to see anything, happening nearly anywhere, nearly instantly. There are so many scenarios now where companies, governments and people cannot hide things anymore, and one slip up can have a huge impact if released online though social media channels. The fact that everyone is now a journalist, and observable does create a level of social control imposed to us by the widespread availability of this technology. I am interested to see specifically, how this will continue to play out in the future.
Thanks for the read!
Hi Caleb,
Indeed, the effect of live video streaming is not only visible in Hong Kong, but also in the rest of the world and I totally agree with you that this can have some scary effects and impacts on our lives. And, as you mentioned, we have to wait and see what more effects this will have in the future. Thanks for your comment!
Dear Milou,
Thanks for your contribution to this platform, this is highly appreciated. Let me begin by saying that we should all consider the current situation in Hong Kong undesirable and also very concerning. A, in my opinion, very concerning trend we spot, not only in Hong Kong but around the world, is a decrease in trust in our fellow men, society and the government. I remember a plea about trust in society of Jan Terlouw, which I would highly recommend. I will leave the link below.
This decrease in trust is due to the feeling of a lot of people that the government doesn’t listen to their opinion. Because of this, people will resist, which could lead to demonstrations and other extreme measures. Although I don’t approve all of the measures these demonstrators use, I can imagine they feel like this is the only way to really get to their government. So, I would consider the ‘outsmarting of the government’ as an extreme measure to make an statement. In that way, the demonstrators are still just demonstrating, which, in this case, is a good thing in my opinion
I would love to hear your opinion on this.
Cheers,
Ps: As promised, the link of the plea of Jan Terlouw.
https://www.bnnvara.nl/dewerelddraaitdoor/videos/284133
Hi Michael,
I totally agree with you, trust is very important for society and if the people in Hong Kong would have had more trust in their government the current situation would probably be different. Your example of the plea of Jan Terlouw, especially the remark he made about ‘touwtjes door de brievenbus’, was very moving and really captures this issue!
I can also imagine that people sometimes feel like demonstrating is the only thing they can do to get the attention of the government. However, I think that if you do this you need to keep the true reason and purpose in mind of why you are demonstrating in the first place. I think that by doing so, the chance that your demonstrations will actually help and get the attention of the government will increase. In the case of Hong Kong, we will have to wait and see… Thanks for your interesting addition!
Hi Milou, thanks for you interesting post about Hong Kong! I actually lived there for a while, so I am very happy to see that someone is actually writing about what is happening to Hong Kong at the moment. You write that the protestors fear that they can be recognized via cameras on the street. Actually, this is already happening. The intelligent cameras are already able to count the exact number of faces during protests, to see how many protestors there actually were (Moody, G., 2019). Since the Chinese government now forbid wearing masks during protests, even though tear gass is thrown at the protestors, I fear that the face recognizing cameras already exists and are already being used by the Chinese governemnt to arrest protestors. I find this a very dirty way of the government to fight against the protestors, who are protesting in peace and without any violence. It is striking to see how technology can be such an agressive way to fight against protestors. Hopefully the this will all be solved in the near future without a lot of violence.