Hi folks, it's Shelly in Hong Kong. There's only one question on the minds of everyone here: How does this all end?
We've just entered the 13th week of protests in the global financial hub, which have evolved from rallying against a bill allowing extraditions to China into pro-democracy demonstrations decrying Beijing's role in the semi-autonomous city. In recent days, we saw police pull out guns and water cannons. Hong Kong's Chief Executive appealed to the public for dialogue.
But protests, strikes and rallies are already scheduled through Oct. 1, China's national day, with fliers circulating online to bring people out en masse.
So how does this all work? To figure out how this movement has sustained for months without a leader or a well-funded political party, we took a deep dive into how protesters recently paralyzed the city's airport. It revealed a well-organized online army that discussed, planned and executed daily protests and public relations campaigns using apps like Telegram and Reddit-like forum LIHKG, and cloud-based services like Google Drive and Maps.
Instead of relying on big social media platforms like Facebook, where users mostly employ real names, activists in Hong Kong prefer anonymous forums where algorithms don't determine which messages rise to the top. Airdropping protest routes and marketing materials as iPhone users transit through train stations has also become popular.
Many protesters say they check LIHKG a few times an hour. They look for specific tasks and discussion groups that are trending in popularity. They vote in favor of ideas they support by pressing the thumbs-up button and voting against ideas by pressing the thumbs-down button. When posts about, say, where to hold the next protest or how to respond to recent police actions receive 2,000 or 3,000 so-called up-votes, usually someone will decide to start a separate Telegram channel to turn the idea into action. The name of the Telegram channel will be posted in the original LIHKG discussion forum, and interested users will migrate to the Telegram chat.
Once on Telegram, the planning starts. Sub-groups and side-chats are formed to handle specific tasks like event marketing, fundraising, logistics, permitting, first aid, and supplies. Then, separate day-of Telegram channels are created to coordinate timing, report instances of police blockades, tear gas or other obstacles that might pop up. A real-time map has been created to follow the protest actions.
Administrators of Telegram channels change regularly to avoid becoming targets of law enforcement, which has already arrested at least one Telegram user.
The movement leans on crowd-sourced opinions and popular sentiment based on informal polling to inform collective action. Some people helping out with designing fliers or raising money aren't even in Hong Kong.
Relying on technology platforms differs from 2014, when Hong Kong's Umbrella movement depended on a core team of leaders who physically camped out in the city's main business district to maintain momentum.
This time around, anyone can participate — and keep their day job — explains one protester at a recent rally I covered. Technology sustains the movement, making it harder for Beijing or anyone else to stop.
"LIHKG helps me keep track of what's going on in the protests and what people are talking about, even if I don't sign in or participate in the votes," says 26-year-old Brian Wun. "We need to show up to show the Hong Kong government we don't want them to take away our freedoms."
Like hundreds of others in the crowd that night, Wun, an engineer from Hong Kong who says he only shows up for non-violent protests, only half-listened to the presenters on a stage set up at the rally. He was busy scrolling through the LIHKG app.
If Wun and the technology fueling these protests provide any indication, it doesn't look like there's an end in sight.
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