Hong Kong Protest Movements and the Internet

Hong Kong.
Finally, we move on to Francis Lee as the last speaker on this second day of The Internet Turning 40. He notes that a few weeks ago, some 150,000 people commemorated the Tian An Men massacre in Hong Kong, and other public rallies are now also becoming commonplace - more and more people are now prepared to participate in such demonstrations. Mainstream media, interpersonal connections, and online media are combining to enable such activities; Hong Kong is becoming 'a proper society'.

What role does the Internet play in this, then? The Internet is used as a means of coordination and mobilisation, as a means of facilitating the formation of movement networks, as a platform for collective or individualised protest actions, and as a channel for persuasive messages and information. For social movements in the online information environment, the Net can be considered as an alternative medium, enabling them to bypass the mass media and transmit oppositional views; also, compared to conventional media, people are less likely to be exposed to discordant views and messages, and a form of self-reinforcing groupthink can develop, particularly with the move towards Web 2.0. This facilitates a heightened audience selectivity.

Thus, the Net might have a persuasive influence - an alternative source of information and messages, and one which encourages greater support for specific groups. It might also activate the support of new participants. Additionally, it might further radicalise supporters, through self-reinforcing communication which enters into a spiral of mutual strengthening of support for specific viewpoints.

Francis tested this against the backdrop of the anti-Express Rail protest movement in Hong Kong (which opposed the connection of Hong Kong's express rail to China's). In his survey, some 18% of respondents named the Internet as a major source of information related to the movement (even though it was also very prominent in the news media); younger and more educated participants were more likely to do so, as well as those who already had some past protest experience (interestingly, those participants were also more likely to name radio and newspapers, and less likely to name television). Those who relied more strongly on the Internet as an information source were also more likely to generally support social movements, and they had somewhat more pointedly positive or negative views of protest actions than the users of other media.

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