Online counter-mobilisation via social media: Exploration of pro-regime opinion leaders in Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty

The literature has long recognised non-democratic regimes that are increasingly using Internet manipulation to undermine the opposition. Apart from network control, content surveillance and paying for Internet commentators, the implications of the new trend of online counter-mobilisation remain to be explored. By analysing 5124 YouTube videos of Hong Kong's Anti-extradition Bill Protests, this study examines how pro-regime opinion leaders counter-mobilised pro-regime contents and Internet users responded to their videos. The results indicate that the main concern of the pro-regime opinion leaders was to (i) demobilise the protests, (ii) condemn opposition figures and (iii) show their support for the authorities. Users were mainly participative in videos related to (i) justify suppression, (ii) support for front-line police officers against protesters and (iii) criticism of the opposition. These differences reflect the apparent asymmetry between opinion leaders, who provide more negative contents, and followers, who have better responses to positively framed contents. The findings further contribute to exploring the strategies of the pro-regime counter-framing to overcome the challenges of the opposition camp.