Chinese tanks at the border? False. Photo of a protester biting off a policeman's finger? Misleading. In polarised Hong Kong, a fake news fight for public opinion has become as crucial a battleground as the city streets.
Chinese tanks at the border? False. Photo of a protester biting off a policeman’s finger? Misleading. In polarised Hong Kong, a fake news fight for public opinion has become as crucial a battleground as the city streets.
Hong Kong authorities have been forced to repeatedly deny claims circulating on social media — most recently, that People’s Liberation Army soldiers had been brought in from the mainland to defend government buildings. Videos and images of protests or violent incidents, often selectively edited or doctored to support a particular viewpoint have circulated quickly on social media platforms, but also private chat groups such as on Weibo or WhatsApp.
“The excuse that journalists are simply reporting about what people are sharing and discussing is a cop-out,” he said, pointing to a widely reported recent conspiracy theory that claimed a policeman’s watch proved a press briefing was staged. “Because the news is so obviously fake to Hongkongers, they are now very skeptical of any news they receive,” she said.Jeffrey Ngo, a pro-democracy activist, said the sheer volume of conflicting and false news circulating online left people confused.
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