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Smashing cameras: our look at how Hong Kong protesters are fighting not just police surveillance, but staging a stand against the tech-backed authoritarianism they see just over the border in mainland China and fear is coming to Hong Kong. nytimes.com/2019/10/03/tec…
The latest proof of their fears is playing out today, with news of a new anti-mask law. A faceless, badgeless police force confronting protesters not allowed to cover their faces would be a metaphor for the opacity and lack of accountability in China. google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp…
The turn helps explain why of late it's become open season on CCTV cameras in Hong Kong. Protesters regularly bash out their lenses, rip them down, paint them black, or in one case, mark their presence with graffiti. Here's some shots. 
It's gotten so bad that the MTR has taken to covering the cameras in plastic in the hopes of protecting them from I guess paint at the very least.
At protests, identity is a real concern. Police use all kinds of tactics to track protesters. Still, at times fears of surveillance have been misguided. In August, a smart lamppost was pulled down. It likely wasn't running the sort of facial-recognition surveillance many feared.
We asked protesters about the incidents. Many said the concerns about the cameras are as much about fears of a future under the thrall of Beijing's technologies of control as they are about staying unidentifiable from police in the moment.
"To destroy the cameras and the lampposts is a symbolic way to protest. We are saying we don't need this surveillance," one protester told us, another said, "We have to take the initiative to hold the line. The whole internet of mainland China is under government surveillance."
Their projections about China are interesting. Some are overstated, like concerns about social credit. Some are spot on, like fears of WeChat monitoring. China's overwhelming censorship/surveillance has made tech and privacy a key background issue.(Photos are cameras in Shenzhen)
In its responses, Beijing has encouraged the fear. With Cathay scrutinizing employees social media and misinformation campaigns on Twitter and Facebook, Hong Kong people see very clearly the tendrils of the China model stretching their way.
Lokman Tsui put it well: "Trust in institutions is what separates Hong Kong from China. Fast eroding trust in the government/law enforcement, and concurrently the growing fear and paranoia about government surveillance, is what makes Hong Kong society more and more like China's."
