Hong Kong Riots: Blocked Facebook users: We're not paid to be patriotic
Updated 18:58, 22-Aug-2019
Twitter and Facebook have shut down accounts that are allegedly part of an online campaign to discredit Hong Kong's protesters. CGTN's He Weiwei interviewed two Facebook users in Hong Kong who claim their accounts have been blocked.
HE WEIWEI HONG KONG "I reached one man by phone call who claims to hold a Hong Kong permanent ID. He says he created a Facebook account on August the 18th but couldn't log in after the second day. He says this happened before he posted a single word. He believes it was because he used a profile photo showing his support for the Hong Kong police."
ANONYMOUS FACEBOOK USER HONG KONG "I believe (I got blocked) because that photo has a Hong Kong police (on it). I think that's probably like a reason. I think most protesters, they hate the police."
He says that's not fair. He thinks the Hong Kong police are professional and restrained, and it's some of the protesters who have been violent. He created this account to express his opinion.
ANONYMOUS FACEBOOK USER HONG KONG "We don't get any money from other organizations, from Chinese government. We don't get any support (from) them. We just do what we believe we should do as Hong Kong citizens. That's it. However, all our accounts were gone."
He says he has at least 20 friends in Hong Kong whose Facebook accounts appear to have been suspended for similar reasons.
HE WEIWEI HONG KONG "At this moment I can't confirm this is one of the accounts that Facebook mistook for a fake. But the second person I contacted indicates that maybe this wasn't an isolated case."
Li Meng, a Chinese national working in Hong Kong, says his two Facebook accounts were suspended months ago after he posted comments on what he considered inaccurate reports about the mainland.
VOICE OF LI MENG FACEBOOK USER IN HONG KONG "Some reports were biased and not true. And I left some different opinions and debated with other netizens. Since then I found that something went wrong with my account, and then I couldn't use it anymore."
Both men accuse Facebook of a double-standard.
VOICE OF LI MENG FACEBOOK USER IN HONG KONG "What is the freedom of expression that you (Facebook) claimed? Freedom does not mean that you are free to talk, while I'm not. My opinions are different from yours and you use that as an excuse to shut down my account?
ANONYMOUS FACEBOOK USER IN HONG KONG "This is double standard. I think this is ridiculous. We are quite disappointed."
It's unknown how many other cases there are, leaving many big question marks over Facebook standards. He Weiwei, CGTN, Hong Kong.