The Role of Social Media in the Dissemination of Politically Sensitive Information: The Case of Occupy Central in Hong Kong

Abstract

As one of the most popular social network sites in China, Sina Weibo is subject to strict government censorship. This study explores the discursive practices used by Sina Weibo participants to access and disseminate news related to the Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong, which broke out on September 28, 2014. A body of original posts and related comments posted after the start of Occupy Central is analyzed using the multi-faceted framework of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA), an analytical construct useful for interpreting social practices (in this study, posting and commenting) that involve actions as well as texts. Specifically, the study applies the concepts of attention structures in relation to discourses in place, interaction order, and historical bodies in MDA as introduced by Jones (2005, 2010). A focus on attention structures within the three domains highlights the cooperation of posters and commenters in delivering and receiving messages under the radar of government censorship, and helps explain apparent disparities between the surface meanings of posts and audience members’ seemingly irrelevant comments on them. This suggests that attention structures within MDA are useful analytical tools with which to explore the subtle interaction of the three dimensions in the investigation of social issues.