BANGKOK (Reuters) – Social media giant Twitter on Thursday launched an emoji for the Milk Tea Alliance, a global online democracy movement that unites anti-Beijing campaigners in Hong Kong and Taiwan with protesters in Thailand , Myanmar and beyond.
Activists welcome the announcement of the emoji – a white mug on a three-color background depicting different shades of milk tea in Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan – for the movement’s first anniversary.
The Milk Tea Alliance arose out of a Twitter war that flared up after Chinese nationalists accused a young Thai actor and his girlfriend of supporting democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwanese independence.
It is named after a shared passion for sweet tea drinks at the three locations.
The use of the hashtag peaked again in February after the military coup in Myanmar, where protesters using the hashtag received local support.
“We’ve seen more than 11 million tweets with the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag in the past year,” Twitter said Thursday in an announcement that pushed the hashtag to the best trends in Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Previously, Twitter introduced emojis for #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements.
The Twitter emoji has shown worldwide recognition and given greater credibility to the youth movement, said leading Thai activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, one of the alliance’s leading voices.
“This is important because it shows the young people who are fighting for democracy that the world is with them and that they have an impact,” Netiwit told Reuters. “This is a sign that online activism can go much further.”
Twitter has been blocked in China and the apparent endorsement of a movement with strong opposition to Beijing is unlikely to harm its business, said James Buchanan, a lecturer at Mahidol University International College in Bangkok.
“Twitter has a lot to gain by addressing young people in the Asian markets that are open to them,” he said.
Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Edited by Mattthew Tostevin and Ed Davies