Hong Kong Leader Leung Chun-Ying Encounters Facebook Reaction Hate From Masses, Could This Lead To Ban On Site?
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, also known as C.Y. Leung, is encountering a kind of hate that he can do little about. With the release of Facebook reactions, he is being flooded with angry emojis in response to his posts and pictures.
When Facebook announced they would be launching an alternative to the “like” button a few months ago, we had thought it would be the inevitable beginning of the “dislike” button. However, just this week the new alternatives didn’t include the infamous “hater” feature we expected. Instead, we found the ability to love posts, and were given a collection of emojis to respond with, without having to leave a comment.
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Haters across the internet are still finding a way to show their dislike, using the angry face emoji. It’s a popular new way to show someone you don’t like what they posted, and as an added bonus, you don’t get flooded by trolls dead set on giving you grief over your “salty” (angry or crying) response.
The introduction of reaction emojis was originally created as a way to give Facebook users a way to respond, sans comment, in a more supportive way. For instance, you wouldn’t like the fact that your neighbor’s dog just died, unless that dog happened to be the bane of your existence with its barking and such. If someone posts something you have a severe dislike for, you can show your anger without leaving a comment. In some cases, if someone makes a post you wish you could “like” a hundred times, you can “love” it now.
The highly unpopular Hong Kong leader is being given thousands of the angry face emojis, with 56,000 out of 58,000 reactions hitting the picture of him from the Hong Kong Employers’ Federation, according to CNN. His profile picture was treated likewise, with 55,000 angry emojis, and 500 crying faces.
The likely reason for this flood of hate on the Hong Kong leader’s posts and profile picture is that he opposed the pro-democracy protests which led to the nation being paralyzed in 2014. Students at the protests demanded that the Hong Kong leader be removed from his position so they could vote for a wider array of candidates instead of a small selection of pro-Beijing figures.
Hate and troll comments can be deleted, but there is nothing you can do about the Facebook reaction emojis if you want to keep the post up. This could also lead to world leaders receiving a barrage of negative responses they can only do one thing about. The only way to get rid of the angry face emoji is to remove the post or delete your account. Some world leaders with a strict anti-hate policy might even opt to simply ban Facebook from their nation’s internet.
[hk] Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has amassed 54,000 angry emojis on Facebook within hours of publishing a post https://t.co/oMgbnIVpLV
— David Spencer (@Honxqp) February 26, 2016
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying is not feeling the “love” at all, as citizens of the nation which apparently doesn’t want him in charge are now using Facebook’s new feature to show their displeasure. His rival has received no such hate, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
Long before the Facebook reaction emojis were even considered, the neighboring nation of China had blocked Facebook as well as several other high-ranking websites like Wikipedia and YouTube. With this new feature, it appears the social media site isn’t getting unblocked any time soon.
With Hong Kong’s leader CY Leung garnering so much hate, it may be only a matter of time before he declares Facebook be banned there as well.
[Image via Chris McGrath/Getty Images]
