In Hong Kong, cell phones haves become the voice of the people. However, Hong Kong authority believes people should not have a voice.

It has been reported that Hong Kong police have “seized” more than 3,700 phones of protestors due to months of protests. It has been said that Hong Kong police have the authority to “seize and examine various objects of suspected offenders” for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime, end goal being protect its citizens’ lives.

But does this protect the citizens’ of Hong Kong’s lives? It is known that after the seizure of the protestors cell phones, “3,721 mobile phones belonging to arrested persons or suspects were involved, and the relevant cases were all processed with search warrants issued by the court”. For all these arrests and seizing’s, you would think the protests would involve a country, life-style changing origin, however, the protests are about a proposed extradition bill. That being said, innocent citizens are being thrown in jail for something US citizens do every day, only to which a larger scale.

Hong Kong is nit representing a democracy. The cell phone is a technology working to express and spread democracy through sharing opinions, spreading information through social media handles, or even to the smallest extent, texting friends over issues you care about. And the beauty of a cell phone is that it’s yours and its private, in a democracy. However, in Hong Kong, democracy was stripped from its people by seizing, invading, and persecuting their citizens for sharing their own opinions among friends and family.

References:

https://www.businessinsider.com/hong-kong-police-seize-cell-phones-protesters-sparking-privacy-concerns-2020-1