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Reading News

beyond the Firewall

Mainland students who study outside the Great Firewall of
China have different news consumption habits which

influence their views on Hong Kong protests

By Regina Chan

e are what we eat. We are Different news media
what we read. Access to tell different stories
Winformation, especially Chloe, a mainland student who is
when Hong Kong is caught in politi- currently studying in Hong Kong, says
cal turmoil, is more important than some mainlanders, especially those
ever before. As the movement sparked who have higher education levels and
by the anti-extradition bill continues, can bypass the firewall, are trying to
news consumers are hooked to screens gather more information to read be-
for information about protests on the fore making judgments.
front line. Chloe says when the protest start-
When most assume that Main- ed in June, many mainland students
landers who mostly take Chinese so- in Hong Kong were actually quite
cial media platforms such as WeChat supportive of the movement. They
and Weibo, where politically sensitive also shared the news from different
topics are heavily censored, as news sources about the protests with their
sources probably take a stand against friends.
the ongoing movement in Hong Kong, “These Mainlanders think they
there are actually many who try to have the responsibility to spread veri-
read news beyond the Great Firewall fied information [about what is hap-
of China. pening in Hong Kong],” says Chloe. “I
The Great Firewall of China is a also have many friends living in China
surveillance and censorship system who are familiar with this city and try
with the aim of ensuring discussions to tell other people about the move-
on China’s Internet are all topics ap- ment.”
proved by the Chinese government. Though many no longer support
Varsity interviewed some main- the movement due to escalating vio-
land students who are currently stud- lent clashes, they are aware that dif-
ying in Hong Kong or abroad to learn ferent news sources are feeding news
about their news consuming habits. consumers very different stories.
All of them decline to reveal their full Chloe says she is in the habit of
names for fear of getting into trouble reading news on Weibo and some
when they go back to mainland China. bloggers on this social media site post