Online and Offline Youth Participation in Hong Kong’s Anti-extradition Bill Social Movement

Abstract

Triggered by a now shelved extradition bill in 2019, mass demonstrations in Hong Kong quickly turned into an anti-government movement. Social media platforms were critical for communication and the coordination of protest actions. Further, creative forms of participation, such as performances, translation of news, and citizens’ press conferences, emerged. As university students were particularly active in the movement, this analysis examines Hong Kong student’s collective and political self-efficacy as well as their satisfaction with the political and socio-economic situation in Hong Kong—considered crucial factors in the mobilization of masses according to social psychological theory and social movement theory—to understand how these factors may have influenced students’ offline and online participation in the social movement. We use panel data from students who participated in one survey shortly before the social movement took hold and in another survey a year later, to address the research questions. Structural equation modeling disentangles the role of efficacy and dissatisfaction and their interactions, controlling for other variables. The results show differential associations of efficacy and dissatisfaction and indicate that political dissatisfaction is a particularly strong correlate of protest actions. We discuss these results with respect to the conceptualization of social movement participation, the link between offline and online participation, as well as theories of protest action. Based on the findings, we propose improvements to civic education and youth policy, including youth empowerment, the promotion of skills for perspective-taking, and teacher development in the context of digitalization.