Hongkongers are joining the global trend to abandon Facebook and sign up for the new platform MeWe, to protest against the social media giant’s increasing control over free speech.

Nearly a hundred new Hong Kong groups have mushroomed on MeWe over the past two weeks. Although MeWe is not entirely free of charge like Facebook, users say they would rather pay a little to buy back their freedom of expression.

The movement to abandon Facebook and other established platforms such as Twitter emerged in the United States during the presidential election, when Twitter was accused of censoring tweets and reports alleging a scandal related to Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

Facebook also came under fire for adding “fact-check” labels to posts by President Donald Trump and his supporters, questioning their truthfulness.

The widespread discontent with Facebook and Twitter has prompted a boycott by netizens who are switching to Parler to replace Twitter, MeWe instead of Facebook, and Rumble for YouTube.

This trend is being seen in Hong Kong as well, where Facebook is the most widely used social media platform. Local users have complained about the platform’s selective censorship of content, alleging that even mild pro-democracy posts are removed while vicious slurs against the pro-democracy camp, posted in pro-Beijing groups, remain untouched.

MeWe, which has an interface similar to Facebook’s, claims that it will not censor users’ postings unless they incite violence or break the law in other ways. Its chief executive, Mark Weinstein, has repeatedly assured users that the platform will not interfere with people’s freedom of expression.

MeWe says it has 12 million users, including three million who joined in November. The platform said it does not trace users’ personal information, but that about 29% of its postings originate in Asia.

MeWe is free of charge for most users, although setting up a page to promote a business costs US$1.99 per month. However, MeWe contains no advertisements, and it promises not to sell its users’ data for profit – a major complaint from Facebook users.

“Buying back my freedom of speech for this price is totally worth it,” said Tim [no last name], the founder of the courier company LHK Express and the online grocery store Daily.

Tim’s two new MeWe pages have already attracted over a thousand followers each, he said. “If you do not place ads with Facebook, your posts get a very low hit rate,” he said. “I don’t want [Facebook] to profit from me anymore.”

However, Hong Kong data scientist Wong Ho-wah warns that MeWe users should be careful about posting private data, because MeWe’s lack of two-step verification is a potential weakness.

MeWe’s operators can still promote products and services on the platform, giving priority to certain postings by using mathematical algorithms, said Wong, an Election Committee member representing the IT industry.

Facebook has yet to respond to Apple Daily’s enquiries.

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