In the “Bear Market Screaming Therapy Group” on Telegram, members are only allowed to post voice notes of themselves screaming. Anything else will result in an instant ban from the group, which currently has about 75 members. The channel also called on people to turn out for illegal assemblies and listed the things that participants should bring along with them, showing prior planning was in the works for riots. The messages also incited people to hurl toxic gas bombs at police and MTR stations, he added. In 2018, Telegram’s audience reached 200 million people, with 500,000 new users joining the messenger every day. It was launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 October 2013. “[The defendant] could not shift his criminal liability,” Hui said. A vandalised bank during the 2019 protest. File photo: May James/HKFP.
from us