Social media is a platform that helps people to interact, share thoughts, and ideas in virtual communities. Social media has become a part and parcel of our life. There are social media, which are dedicated to forums, social networking, microblogging, social circulation. Individuals use social media as a platform to share thoughts, interact with friends. Businesses use social media to promote and market their products.
In Hong Kong social media has been using as a battlefield by Hong Kong protestors. It’s not the first that the social media has been used as a medium for protesting against the political movement, in 2014 to show the support to Hong Kong pro-democracy movement the image of a yellow umbrella was widely shared on Facebook. The protesters now use social media to create awareness about cybersecurity, and how to communicate effectively. Despite assurance from the Beijing many people had deleted digital references in opposition to China’s ruling party.
Paul, an employee in a company said that “he had changed the profile picture and switched to private account so that this employer couldn’t see his post because it is considered offensive. He also stated that he would be extra careful while posting because his colleagues or even friends might report him.
After the law has been passed, the VPN and chats were deleted. Many people had taken their social media platforms such as Twitter and Telegram to announce the arrival of the new law and share tips on internet safety. One lawyer insisted them to delete all the messages as soon as possible. Some of them announced that they are planning to use signals for communication.
The new law permits China’s feared agency to set up shops in Hong Kong. After the law has been passed there has been an increase in the number of VPN downloaded. Before the law is being passed the district councilor has started to use VPN asked his followers to do the same. Many pro-democracy democracy restaurants had taken down there to express their protest. The first arrest was made on Wednesday when thousands defied a ban on rallies, many chanting slogans. The arrest was for having flags and leaflets in favor of Honk Kong’s independence. Chow Po-chung stared that once fear had entered our mind, we can’t live for ourselves. It seems that the government had put undue pressure on the yellow economic circle.
