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ers.
He attributes it to two main reasons. “First, they
have a strong belief and faith in the party’s policies
and rules. The other reason is about the develop-
ment of computer algorithm. For example, if the
first account that you follow on Facebook is the
overseas edition of the People’s Daily, the recom-
mendation system will forward you more infor-
mation from those media outlets sharing similar
political stances,” he says.
The People’s Daily is the official news outlet
of the Communist Party in China, and it provides
direct information on the viewpoints of the party.
Jacque thinks that in the long run, the Main-
landers who mostly consume news by China’s
news outlets, the perspective of the information
they get will be more and more limited.

Be alert when consuming the news
Grace Leung Lai-kuen, a lecturer at the School
of Journalism and Communication in the Chinese
University of Hong Kong, says it is normal for the
people living in the Mainland to have their own
perception of Hong Kong. “The perception may be
shaped by the country, by the previous experience,
or by the education,” she says. “If they have their
own values, they will impose their values while
viewing those issues.”

If they have their own
value, they will impose their
value while viewing those

issues.
Local and foreign news media outlets are blocked inside China’s firewall. Weibo and WeChat are widely used as news sources by Mainlanders.

dents by reading these news stories,” he says, adding that he also Leung thinks that when people try to get the
reads news from Weibo and WeChat official accounts. news, they will filter the information through
Sina Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media sites, is their own ideology and political preferences to
widely used as news sources by Mainlanders. confirm their existing knowledge. She says no one
Though many Mainlanders try to surmount the firewall for will see things from a neutral stance. “If the infor-
more access to information and the news, Jacque thinks that does mation is close to their values and shares similar
not mean they will change their attitude toward the movement in ideas, then they tend to accept it,” she adds. To be
Hong Kong or make them become more supportive of the protest- aware of the authenticity of information, Leung
encourages people to keep a sceptical mind when
reading news.
From their posts on Weibo or
WeChat, I can sense that they tend to Edited by Gloria Li &

stir up readers’ emotions, Jasmine Ling