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| How one night of tear gas in Hong Kong just shut down all Instagram in China | How one night of tear gas in Hong Kong just shut down all Instagram in China |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BEIJING -- Social media users in China gave a collective groan Monday after the country's Communist rulers blocked Instagram in the wake of protests in Hong Kong. | BEIJING -- Social media users in China gave a collective groan Monday after the country's Communist rulers blocked Instagram in the wake of protests in Hong Kong. |
| No more sepia-tinged phone pics of your latest meal in Shanghai or, perhaps more importantly to Chinese censors' minds, no more shots of Hong Kong officers in riot gear unloading canisters of pepper-spray and tear gas into the faces of Hong Kong's largely peaceful demonstrators. | No more sepia-tinged phone pics of your latest meal in Shanghai or, perhaps more importantly to Chinese censors' minds, no more shots of Hong Kong officers in riot gear unloading canisters of pepper-spray and tear gas into the faces of Hong Kong's largely peaceful demonstrators. |
| Until Monday, Instagram was one of the few foreign social media apps left untouched, even as Facebook, Twitter and others were blocked. | Until Monday, Instagram was one of the few foreign social media apps left untouched, even as Facebook, Twitter and others were blocked. |
| It has been the vehicle of choice for some artist dissidents such as Ai Weiwei. And this weekend, it was a handy way for protesters laying peaceful siege to government headquarters in Hong Kong to send out visual documentation of police as they charged at protesters with batons and lobbed tear gas canisters into crowded streets. | It has been the vehicle of choice for some artist dissidents such as Ai Weiwei. And this weekend, it was a handy way for protesters laying peaceful siege to government headquarters in Hong Kong to send out visual documentation of police as they charged at protesters with batons and lobbed tear gas canisters into crowded streets. |
| Their clashes with police Sunday night and into the wee hours of Monday morning were accompanied by a barrage of hashtags. #hk, #hongkong, etc. #Occupycentral, a rallying cry for democracy activists of late, had 9,103 posts as of Monday afternoon. So when the service turned off within hours of protesters getting tear gassed, many users assumed Monday that Chinese censors decided that it was not in their interest to let pictures circulate of Chinese residents standing up en masse to their local authorities. | Their clashes with police Sunday night and into the wee hours of Monday morning were accompanied by a barrage of hashtags. #hk, #hongkong, etc. #Occupycentral, a rallying cry for democracy activists of late, had 9,103 posts as of Monday afternoon. So when the service turned off within hours of protesters getting tear gassed, many users assumed Monday that Chinese censors decided that it was not in their interest to let pictures circulate of Chinese residents standing up en masse to their local authorities. |
| (SEE: Photos from Hong Kong protest.) | (SEE: Photos from Hong Kong protest.) |
| The sudden loss of Instagram in China drew the ire of Chinese netizens, including some who weren't even aware of the protest before the shutdown. | The sudden loss of Instagram in China drew the ire of Chinese netizens, including some who weren't even aware of the protest before the shutdown. |
| "No one cared before what was happening over there in Hong Kong. We just wanted to quietly stalk our pop stars and get updates on ball games. But now that you've done this we have to care," posted one angry blogger named OhSoCute on China's Weibo social media. | "No one cared before what was happening over there in Hong Kong. We just wanted to quietly stalk our pop stars and get updates on ball games. But now that you've done this we have to care," posted one angry blogger named OhSoCute on China's Weibo social media. |
| "Once again, I feel that I am forced to wear a huge pair of eye patches," sighed another poster. | "Once again, I feel that I am forced to wear a huge pair of eye patches," sighed another poster. |
| As of Monday, Instagram remained available in Hong Kong, which -- because of its history as a British colony -- enjoys freedoms and rule of law most Chinese cities do not. | As of Monday, Instagram remained available in Hong Kong, which -- because of its history as a British colony -- enjoys freedoms and rule of law most Chinese cities do not. |
| Chinese officials have tried curtailing Instagram before. This summer, for example, the app was abruptly removed from the Android app store in China. | Chinese officials have tried curtailing Instagram before. This summer, for example, the app was abruptly removed from the Android app store in China. |
| (SEE: How China has blocked the internet through the years.) | (SEE: How China has blocked the internet through the years.) |
| But the censorship of Instagram was just one of many ways Chinese authorities attempted Monday to limit awareness in China of the protest in Hong Kong. | But the censorship of Instagram was just one of many ways Chinese authorities attempted Monday to limit awareness in China of the protest in Hong Kong. |
| There were some signs that Hong Kong-related pictures on China's main social media apps Weibo and WeChat were being deleted and blocked. | There were some signs that Hong Kong-related pictures on China's main social media apps Weibo and WeChat were being deleted and blocked. |
| The news was similarly kept off the home pages of most Chinese news sites in China, who almostuniformly ran the same story distributed by government-controlled Xinhua News Agency. (A report that mainly calls the protests "an illegal gathering.") | The news was similarly kept off the home pages of most Chinese news sites in China, who almostuniformly ran the same story distributed by government-controlled Xinhua News Agency. (A report that mainly calls the protests "an illegal gathering.") |
| An editorial by China's nationalistic, state-run Global Times blamed "radical activists in Hong Kong for "ruining Hong Kong's image," and accused foreign media of making unfair comparisons to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. | An editorial by China's nationalistic, state-run Global Times blamed "radical activists in Hong Kong for "ruining Hong Kong's image," and accused foreign media of making unfair comparisons to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. |
| Soon after, Chinese versions of the editorial, along with others, were deleted online (but the English version remained untouched as of Monday afternoon). | Soon after, Chinese versions of the editorial, along with others, were deleted online (but the English version remained untouched as of Monday afternoon). |
| View Photo Gallery —China's leadership has regularly blocked online sites and blacked out TV networks when items deemed unfavorable have appeared. Here are a few recent high-profile topics that provoked censorship. | View Photo Gallery —China's leadership has regularly blocked online sites and blacked out TV networks when items deemed unfavorable have appeared. Here are a few recent high-profile topics that provoked censorship. |
| Liu Liu and Gu Jinglu contributed to this report. | Liu Liu and Gu Jinglu contributed to this report. |