2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Protests

Submission 36,711

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Overview

The 2019 Hong Kong Protests refers to ongoing demonstrations against legislation set forth by the Chinese government that would allow extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. Hong Kong citizens oppose the legislation as it challenges the autonomy and civil liberties of the former British colony. The protest resembled Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Revolution, another mass demonstration that criticized the Chinese government.

Background

On June 9th, 2019, hundreds of thousands of people joined a public demonstration in Hong Kong to protest the Chinese government's plan to allow for extraditions to mainland China. The line of protestors, which stretched for more than a mile, criticized the extradition plan, believing that it was yet another chipping away of the autonomy of Hong Kong, as well as the civil liberties of its citizens. By facing extradition to mainland China, Hong Kong residents could be forced to face trial in the mainland, tightening the control that President Xi Jinping has over the territory.^[1]

Activists believe as many as one million people marched on Sunday. Police, however, dispute the number, stating that they counted only 240,000. The protest is considered one of the largest in Hong Kong's history.

Developments

Following the initial protests, demonstrations have turned violent as police and riot squads attempted to quell the movement. New York Times reporter Austin Ramzy tweeted video from the clashes between riot police and protesters (shown below).

On June 13th, the Chinese government postponed reading of the bill in response to the demonstrations. This comes as human rights groups and world governments condemned the Chinese government's use of force. Additionally, protestors have called for Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to step down.

Telegram Outage

On June 12th, the encrypted messaging service Telegram announced that they had been the victims of a massive DDoS attack. The application is a popular one used by organizers and demonstrators of the protests. The company tweeted,^[2] "We’re currently experiencing a powerful DDoS attack, Telegram users in the Americas and some users from other countries may experience connection issues." The post received more than 3,600 like and 2,000 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, left).

That day, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov tweeted,^[3] "IP addresses coming mostly from China. Historically, all state actor-sized DDoS (200-400 Gb/s of junk) we experienced coincided in time with protests in Hong Kong (coordinated on @telegram). This case was not an exception." The tweet received more than 2,500 retweets and 1,800 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Online Reaction

On June 12th, 2019, Redditor ^[4] hoodini_helodie posted an image from the protests. The post received more than 65,000 points (96% upvoted) and 2,500 comments in 24 hours (shown below).

That day, Redditor^[5] tnt84268 posted the image in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit, asking about the demonstrations. The post received more than 5,300 points (95% upvoted) and 190 comments in 24 hours.

On June 12th, Twitch streamer RonalD_FunG posted a live video of the protests. The post received more than 166,000 views in 24 hours (shown below).

GIF Removal

On August 13th, 2019, Redditor^[10] Trickyman asked why a GIF of paramilitary forces entering Shenzhen.^[11] The post received more than 1,000 points (95% upvoted) and 160 comments.

Redditor aFreshFix wrote, "This one is still up and the subs it's been deleted from were not the appropriate subs because it's a) political b) being spammed in those subs and across all of reddit. It's important, but there are appropriate places for that information. It'd get removed from r/aww too but it's not necessarily a conspiracy."

That day, the GIF could be found on /r/gifs. Redditor^[12] BenK567 posted the gif, receiving more than 7,500 points (98% upvoted) and 730 comments (shown below).

June 9th

On various Chinese social media forums and websites, many users posted American memes about the date of the protest. A thread on the website lihkg^[8] shows a variety, such as Avengers: Endgame Portals, Daily Struggle and Surprised Pikachu (shown below, respectively).

Media Coverage

Virtually every major media outlet covered the protests, including The New York Times,^[1] The Washington Post,^[6] CNN,^[7] BBC^[9] and more.

On June 12th, Vice published a video report entitled "Why Hong Kong Is Rising Up." The video received more than 166,000 views on YouTube (shown below).