Protests in the world
The first large protests in the virtual space began in Hong Kong. All
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong,like almost all over the world, quarantine was introduced. Now, demonstrators hold their protests in video games, for example, in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and wait for the end of quarantine.
Hong Kong pro-democracy supporters are having a lot of fun with #AnimalCrossing
Pic via @hkwuliff pic.twitter.com/Lme6gEHqC9
- Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) April 2, 2020
Protesters create banners in the game with the words “Free Hong Kong, revolution now” or print photos of Hong Kong’s head Carrie Lam and destroy them immediately.
Animal Crossing is Fast Becoming a New Way forHong Kong Protesters to Fight for Democracy! The #Covid_19 pandemic has halted public demonstrations, so protesters are taking their cause to #AnimalCrossing.https://t.co/A599kjlYsV
(This is my island!) Pic.twitter.com/vjBhzw1nUa
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 ? (@joshuawongcf) April 2, 2020
This is how #hongkong ppl spend our time duringcoronavirus lockdown – villain hitting in #animalcrossing, the villain is #CarrieLam, the worst governor in #hongkong history.#AnimalCrossingNewHorizons#StandWithHK pic.twitter.com/K5AbOTl9tD
- Studio Incendo (@studioincendo) April 1, 2020
Other pioneers of online ralliesthey became eco-activists and greens, who began to conduct Internet protests in March 2020, when the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on her Twitter page stated that she was not going to leave home in the near future.
School strike week 82. In a crisis we change our behavior and adapt to the new circumstances for the greater good of society.
Join the #DigitalStrike – post a pic of you with a sign and use #ClimateStrikeOnline! #schoolstrike4climate #fridaysforfuture #climatestrike #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/fZkjqN3DOw
- Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) March 13, 2020
Likewise, the Climate Change Coalition planned to hold huge protests in April around the world. They have now been canceled or moved online.
Statement from the US Youth Climate Strike Coalition on COVID-19:
April 22-24 remains an invitation to everyone whoshares our vision of urgently addressing the climate crisis. #strikewithus #climatestrike #earthday #thisiszerohour #climatechange #climatecrisis #greennewdeal pic.twitter.com/ulnJgppOL4
- Zero Hour (@ThisIsZeroHour) March 13, 2020
The format of virtual rallies is gradually beginning to gain popularity around the world. Such protests have already been announced in many countries - for example, in Georgia.
In Russia
The first virtual rallies against the regimeself-isolation took place in Rostov-on-Don on April 20 thanks to Yandex services. People used the “Conversations” function in the mobile version of Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Navigator, which allows them to put a point on the map and write a comment on it.
Residents of the city began to dot the buildinglocal government and write in virtual posters that due to the advisory nature of the emergency, many people who have lost their jobs cannot receive social assistance from the state.
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On Yandex maps in Rostov, people staged an online rally near the Government building
A few hundred protest comments alsoit was said that the authorities needed to either introduce official quarantine, which would allow them to rely on state guarantees, or completely remove restrictions, since many people simply had nothing to eat and nothing to live on.
That's for sure: modern problems require modern solutions.
Rostovites gathered a virtual rally near the building of the regional government through Yandex.Navigator. pic.twitter.com/PHkgOTepGn
- Ilya Varlamov (@varlamov) April 20, 2020
Following Rostov-on-Don, protest rallies inYandex.Maps began in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, Ufa, Kazan, Cheboksary. Residents of these cities also complained about the measures introduced and the lack of an official emergency regime.
Right now, Yandex is breaking up an “inconsistent rally” against Putin on Red Square.
People leave comments in bulk, but administrators delete them right there. Try it for yourself: https://t.co/t7Q3xRMswV! pic.twitter.com/90vWnfF1GU
- Oleg Stepanov (@olsnov) April 20, 2020
In addition, points with protest comments appeared on the maps of the 2GIS service in two cities - in Moscow and Novosibirsk.
Later from Yandex.Cart "comments began to disappear. According to company employees, moderators always delete comments if they are not related to the situation on the road. In addition, when a large number of comments appear, they begin to slow down the service and loading maps, so the time they are displayed on the map is automatically reduced, Yandex employees added.
On Yandex.maps near the Kremlin online rally. Ask to enter emergency mode. pic.twitter.com/YUeuhDoDuq
- lance (@eivalance) April 20, 2020
Difficulties of conducting protests on the Internet
Activists admit that protestson the Internet - less significant than in real life, and the hashtags #ClimateStrikeOnline and #DigitalClimateStrike are much less noticeable than huge crowds on the streets. However, eco-activists plan, in addition to creating unified protest hashtags for social networks, massively send messages to people, telling them about global problems, and centrally write and call companies whose actions negatively affect the environmental situation, paralyzing their work.
At the same time, the main topic on the agenda now is the coronavirus and the economic crisis, which distract people’s attention from any protest rhetoric.