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someone starts taking action, we will end our argu-
ments,” he says. “We don’t reproach other protesters
as we stick to the principle of ‘not splitting up’.”
The Hong Kong protesters have demonstrated
strong solidarity by minimising any possible nega-
tive impact on the movement and it is illustrated by
how they treat misinformation circulating online.
Davis says protesters rarely vote on Telegram to de-
cide their next moves during protests because they
worry about making wrong decisions if they rely too
much on the unverified news spreading on social me-
dia. Instead, they tend to judge by their own observa-
tions at protest sites.
Davis was once misled by a Telegram message
saying that legions of riot police had arrived at the
scene. But the fact was that there were only one or A protester is on the lookout for the
two police cars. “Sometimes it is very hard to verify situation in the distance.
authenticity of information, but it’s not a big prob-
lem,” says Davis. “If there is something really serious dit”, this online forum is crowned as
According to an onsite
happening, the whole world would know that. Mis- survey conducted by the one of the virtual command centres
takes only exist in some petty things.” Centre for Communica- of the decentralised movement, in
tion and Public Opinion which protesters discuss protest tac-
Survey of CUHK,
Virtual Command Centres: 41.8% tics and organise protest activities.
LIHKG and Telegram of the participants The onsite survey found that these
According to an onsite survey conducted by the of a march on social media sites are embraced not
Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Sur- August 18 always just by the youth but also by the older
use Telegram to
vey of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), acquire informa- generation, who are often regarded
41.8 per cent of the respondents who took part in the tion related to as technology laggards. More than a
the protests
march organised by Civil Human Rights Front on Au- third of the respondents aged 50 and
gust 18 always used Telegram to acquire information 57.3% above said that they always used LI-
related to the protests, while 57.3 per cent of those of the participants HKG to acquire information.
of a march on Au-
surveyed always obtained information from another gust 18 use LIHKG Florence, a middle-aged housewife
to obtain
online platform LIHKG. Dubbed “Hong Kong Red- information about who refuses to disclose her full name,
the protests first learned about the two messag-
ing apps from young protesters in the
June 12 demonstration, during which
A protester gets updates of events on his phone in a march. thousands gathered around the Legis-
lative Council Complex as an attempt
to stop the extradition bill’s second
reading. “When I saw the frontline
protesters building
mills barriers, I
wanted to know
what their next
moves were. That
was why I down-
loaded these apps,”
she says.
Florence is not a Florence
newcomer to social
movements. She joined marches in
the city whenever huge issues arose,
including the demonstration in sup-