Support for protesters in Hong Kong has come from an unexpected place: internet users in mainland China who are turning to encrypted chats to evade censorship and express a sympathy for the city’s demonstrators that is nowhere to be seen in Beijing’s official media.
In some cases, Chinese internet users are even discovering online chat groups to learn about, and defend, the pro-democracy movement by following the trail of pro-Beijing internet armies that have set out to smear the city’s protesters.
A number of those conversations are taking place on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that grants users anonymity and has been the central tool used by Hong Kong protesters to communicate and organize demonstrations. In chats hidden from all but those who know where to look, Chinese internet users are openly siding with Hong Kong protesters, questioning the leadership of President Xi Jinping and lamenting the stiff societal controls of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Globe and Mail reviewed days of chats on several Telegram groups. They provided a glimpse into a much more robust debate inside China about Hong Kong than what is visible in state-controlled media, which has shed little light on the primary motivations of protesters.
[…]
See Also:
(1) South China Sea: Has Beijing Given Up Fortifying Its Illegal Islands?
(3) YouTube disables 210 channels over ‘coordinated’ effort to target Hong Kong protests
(4) Hong Kong accountants walk off the job, joining protests in Asian financial hub
(5) ‘We must defend our city’: A day in the life of a Hong Kong protester
