Influence of Media Exposure and Political Involvement of Hong Kong University Students on the Legislation of Offence against a law enforcement officer

Therefore, some people advocate the crime of insulting the police to protect the police. The voice of legalizing the “Offence against a law enforcement officer” in Hong Kong have been further blown after the democracy protest, “Umbrella Movement” in 2014. Hence, in this research, we are going to find out whether media exposure and political involvement of university students in Hong Kong have an effect on their stand of the legislation of “Offence against a law enforcement officer”. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study. Questionnaires were adopted as the instruments for data gathering. Research Questions 8 1. Significance of the Study 8 1. Hypothesis 8 1. Theoretical model 9 2. Literature Review 11 2. Basic information 30 4. Discussion 39 5. Evaluation 42 References 43 Appendix 46 Introduction Definitions of key words “Offence against a law enforcement officer” (辱警罪) Denotes a legislation proposed by pro-government legislators, making it illegal to insult a police officer.

The Public Order Ordinance expressly provides, "Any person who in any public place behaves in a noisy or disorderly manner or uses. threatening, abusive or insulting words. Interestingly, only a handful of studies have explored the effects of social media on a person’s attitude toward a particular policy or political matter. Political involvement and legislation In Hong Kong, where people enjoy free speech, no sensible discussion should be ruled out. It may help vent police officers' resentment to make it an offence to insult a police officer. However, society being divided and the social atmosphere being as it is now, instead of helping improve the police force's dignity, actually plunge it into a whirlpool of fierce political dispute, add fuel to the flame of antagonism and lay it more open to political attacks.

There are not a few difficulties with legislating against insulting police officers. Significance of the Study This study will add value to the present research in the arena of contemporary implications of social media and political involvement of University students. This study will also be equally important to the University Students and policy practitioners, in the sense that, it examines how social media and political involvement influences the university students with regard to a particular policy enactment such as the, “Offence against a Law Enforcement Officer,” 1. Hypothesis We would like to test whether there is a relationship between the level of media exposure of Hong Kong university students and their stand on the legislation of offence. Using the chi-square test, we will test this hypothesis using three independent variables against our outcome variable; which is the ‘stand on political legislation.

’ We are using the cross-tabulation and chi-square test because our data is qualitative and we can only look for the relationship between the variables. Only behavior automatically occurs, a person can deduce attitude according to their own behavior. When the inner cable is fuzzy or weak, can we use the external behavior to infer his attitude? When there is a lack of an external source of feedback about individual attitudes, one takes advantage of extrinsic behavior to infer one's own attitude. System justification theory refers to the individual's psychological process of legalizing existing social arrangements. The theoretical basis of system justification includes the fallacy consciousness, just-world theory and the cognitive dissonance theory. System justification theory can explain why and how people maintain and support the status quo in terms of cognition and ideology, and some positive and negative consequences.

Moreover, this section seeks to highlight strengths among diverse studies and subsequently employ them in the discussion and methodology. Social Media Utilization and Protest Involvement It is indisputable that social media has the potential to ignite a protest or political participation for various reasons. Social media are avenues of news which are frequently recommended by relatively trusted friends. Besides, social media encompasses a space of deliberation and expression. As such, in the process of discussing or expressing themselves with other individuals, people internalize pertinent messages and information in a relatively deeper way, thus, becoming more susceptible to be influenced. In that regard, social media creates a platform for the distribution of such images and information, which in turn may have a conduct activation impact. Consequently, it may produce participation even after putting attitude into consideration.

Apart from that, digital media has enhanced a new type of communication base for mass protests. Eileen (2013) pinpointed that social media is associated to social movements in three principal components, comprising political expression, information sharing as well as mobilization. For instand, as regards to information sharing, social media serves as information source where consumers can easily access diverse sources of news. In particular, the democratic capability of the internet, which was believed to grant the infrastructure essential for political discussion and thus participation. Nevertheless, entertainment, non-political, consumerism, and chat services were soon invented to hamper the establishment of a perfect public domain. Social media have high probability to become ‘echo chambers’ rather than platforms for democratic debate. In order to dodge being ‘unfriended’ a significant number of users in platforms such as Facebook, tend to take a neutral stand, and others use jokes and humors for self-protection.

Young individuals who are politically involved have invented various ways of incorporating social media with their distinct political activities. According to Hanson, (2009) while most people spend more time on sites such as Facebook and Twitter in getting the latest trending political story or news and sharing opinions with one another than they doing on serious news or political websites. With the result of the People’s Choice Study, it indicated that voters who consumed the most media had generally already decided for which candidate to vote in their political stand. Hanson, 2009) Online news sites has been becoming a primary new source among the youngsters. According to “Cyberpsychology and Behavior” found that visiting public agency sites negatively influenced college students' external political efficacy which at the same time implying that the quality of current public sites is below the expectation of college students and that respondents who visited those sites might develop political cynicism.

What is more to be mentioned about is how media exposure affecting political satisfaction. For example, in the Umbrella Movement, the occupiers engaged in public art creation, attended ‘‘civic seminars”, joined deliberation of the movement’s direction, and participated in frontline actions such as setting up road blockades and confronting the police, etc. Au, 2015; Lee and Chan, 2016). The interpretation of the term “participation” may differ across participants. Some individual’s participation may be confined to occasional visitation of the occupied arena. Conversely, others may be involved in a tremendous range of online and onsite activities. As such, person’s social media utilization can therefore differ along tremendous spectrums. For example, distinguish among network size, time spent, direct connections, network heterogeneity, time sent, direct contact with political actors and exposure to political messages.

This can be best explained by the instand of Hong Kong University students, offline participation was articulated substantially by direct contact with political actors, exposure to political messages as well as network heterogeneity (Au, 2015; Lee and Chan, 2016). Time spent and network size have implicit impacts on participation via other aspects of social media utilization. It is noteworthy that, a substantial number of previous studies have affirmed that expressive social media application, to which sharing of message belongs, would in turn inspire deeper information processing, as such, there is a high likelihood of producing behavioral and attitudinal implications when contrasted with informative application, that is, simply receiving information. An individual is unlikely to engage in protest unless they first have a significant number of social-psychological inclinations to do so. Nonetheless, communication and media can have supplementary impacts on participation after managing the social psychological component.

Furthermore, Kenneth, (2014) states that communication and media may facilitate section of the effects of the social-psychological aspect on protest involvement. Political Involvement of University Students Undoubtedly, Students activism in Hong Kong has played a pivotal role in making the Umbrella Movement of 2014 a success. In review, Students activism has to a great extent shaped political advancement, which can be traced to the mid-1970s because of the safeguarding Diaoyu Island and subsequently Sino-British talks regarding Hong Kong’s Future as of the 1980s, and the eruption of the student’s movements within the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as of 1989. The target population is 400 University students from 8 selected local Universities in Hong Kong. Sampling Sampling is the process of selecting sufficient number of elements from the population so that by investigating the sample and understanding the attributes of the population elements.

Furthermore, sampling encompasses selecting diverse individuals for an assessment such that the chosen individuals symbolizes a larger category from which they were selected. The fundamental foundation which is used when determining the size of the sample id the extent to which the size of the sample symbolizes the population. Quota sampling is used in this research. University students in Hong Kong 2. Able to read and understand Chinese/English questionnaires 1. Refuse to give informed consent Date Time City University of Hong Kong March 7th March 14th 10:00 – 15:30 10:00 – 15:30 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University March 6th March 7th 17:00 – 19:30 10:00 – 14:00 Hong Kong Baptist University March 9th 10:30 – 12:30 14:30 – 18:00 The Education University of Hong Kong March 13th 12:30 – 18:00 Lingnan University March 12th 14:30 – 17:30 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology March 15th 14:00 – 18:00 The University of Hong Kong March 16th 13:00 – 17:30 The Chinese University of Hong Kong March 6th 12:30 – 15:00 Focus Group Interview In addition to the Survey Questionnaires, the methodology encompassed 8 focus group discussions or interview with the representatives of the 6 local Universities in Hong Kong, and who were either members or non-members of the Umbrella Movement.

Focus group discussion integrate the strengths of qualitative study, by collecting ‘rich’ data while at the same time providing supplementary insights via interactions. In the frame of this specific piece of study, focus group discussion was employed to capture the significance of interaction among the respondents, particularly, to develop dialogue regarding their experiences in diverse social movement such as the “Umbrella Movement”. As such, this implied that there availability was pretty limited and hence the researcher did not want to exert pressure by being rigid on the size of the focus group or dictating which specific category they should take part in. At the commencement of the fieldwork, the researcher was uncertain if to adopt ‘natural groups’ or to choose people who were unknown to each other. On one hand, the fact that the respondents knew each other and shared particular attributes such as participating in the ‘Umbrella movement’, maximized the probabilities of good group dynamics.

As Wood (2007), argues that adopting natural groups affirms that the interview is relatively natural via the utilization of members of the already existing groups. Within this paradigm, this approach made the rapport building relatively easier, and inspired open and honest discussion between the respondents. Refuse to be voice-recorded/tape-recorded during the discussion 3. Data Analysis Womack (2016), articulates that data is a readily available content from diverse avenues and differing quantity and quality. A regards to data analysis, he makes it plain that it is the process of cleansing, examining, modeling and converting data with the objective of substantiating valuable information, proposing inferences and help in decision-making. Data was collected using questionnaires and focus groups. The data gathered was inspected to pinpoint errors and completion. The goal is to obtain a broad and a condensed depiction of the phenomena and the result of the analysis is categories or concepts.

The following figure apparently displays the process of content analysis followed. Documenting Data Transcription Developing an Overview Coding Process Evaluation of Relevance List of Categories Determining Thematic Patterns Transcription Fig 1. Displaying the steps of content analysis Documenting of Data This was executed by audio recording using a digital voice recorder, while at the same time audio recording using a backup tape recorder just in case there was an electronic breakdown. Taking notes was equally adopted as a backup as well as granted the setting to the interviews. Determining Thematic Patterns The qualitative analysis was eventually climaxed by the depiction of the thematic association and trends of relevance to the study. To a great extent, the patterns and thematic association established during the interpretation process culminated to the formulation of suitable instrument for the quantitative stage of the research.

Results Interpretation 4. Basic information The first notable variable was the gender of the participants, where the male respondents were the majority with 57% (238), on the other hand, female respondents were 43% (142). This was attributed to the fact that generally men are relatively interested in matters pertaining to politics as compared to women. On the other hand, 26. of the participants held that they have never heard about this legislation (M=2. SD= 1. The following chart showcases the above result. Fig 3: Exhibits the Respondent’s Awareness of the Offence against a Law Enforcement Officer Figure 3 clearly showcases that majority of the respondents were aware about the legislation, “Offence against a Law Enforcement Officer,” To a great extent a significant number of the respondents realized this legislation due to the immense discussions by diverse media houses which consequently popularized this legislation.

Information spreads at a relatively fast rate on the e-platforms as compared to other Medias. Conversely, as displayed from the figure above, newspapers was the less preferred platform for getting information. This implicitly articulates that only a handful of university students read newspapers in Hong Kong. Positions On the Legislation * Reading Newspapers Crosstab count Reading newspaper Total always Usually Often Sometimes Seldom Totally oppose 37 29 40 72 4 182 Neutral 30 20 43 42 5 140 Support 11 10 13 23 0 57 Indifferent 2 21 16 0 2 41 Total 80 80 112 137 11 400 In every 4 classifications (always, usually, sometimes and often) of how often one reads newspapers, the ones that totally support legislation make the highest number. This shows some relationship between reading newspaper and total opposition for the legislation of offence against a law enforcement officer. There is no relationship between the levels of media exposure and the position on the legislation. There is a relationship between the levels of media exposure and the position on the legislation.

If p value<0. Then we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant relationship between the levels of media exposure and the position on the legislation. Chi square test Our p value in this case is 0. Therefore, we can conclude that type of news program one reads determine the students’ stand on the legislation of offence. From the three independent variables; how often one reads newspaper, how often one reads news online and the type of news program one reads, we can clearly see that they determine the student’s stand on the legislation of offence. Therefore the level of media exposure has an impact on the position (that is whether they strongly support, neutral, oppose or indifferent) of a student on legislation. The higher the level of media exposure, the higher the level of impact on their stand.

Discussion From the above findings it is evident beyond any shadow of doubt that the degree of media exposure directly or indirectly influences the stand of the University students. The social capital created by the social media combined with the ‘mob’ mentality pushes them to oppose various legislations. Moreover, the fact that most of the University students are constantly connected with the political actors, consequently, they are influenced by them since most students look up to them for leadership and direction. Besides, the modern Medias spreads information like bushfire, thus, reaching out to a large group of people at the same time. Moreover, the students perceive the proposed legislation as government’s tactic of justifying their cruelty on innocent citizens who are exercising their freedom of expression and protesting peacefully. As such, a significant number of students believe that this legislation is counter their constitutional rights and freedoms, hence, it should be discarded and opposed vehemently.

This is because accessing information in these platforms are relatively easier, thus, message can reach out to a numerous number of people at the same time. Evaluation Limitations are components of the study that might impacts the outcomes negatively. Principal limitation was that the participants found the subject on study relatively sensitive, thus becoming suspicious with its underlying motives, perhaps presuming that their responses may lead them to an indirect confrontation with the government. As such, this may have led to biased or altering responses in association with the subject being studied. To subdue this constraint, ethical factors were appropriately adhered to and all participants were guaranteed maximum confidentiality. Examining the roles of mobile and social media in political participation: A cross-national analysis of three Asian societies using a communication mediation approach.

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Appendix Appendix 1 – Informed contest form of questionnaire Informed Consent Form The effect of media exposure and political involvement of university students in Hong Kong on their stand of the legislation of “Offence against a law enforcement officer” in Hong Kong You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Purpose of study Due to the social movements in recent years, clashes between the public and the police have taken place from time to time. Frontline police officers have been targeted and attacked both verbally and sometimes physically during the movements. These actions hence result in conflicts between police-citizens. Therefore, some people advocate the crime of insulting the police to protect the police. Do you have a habit of reading news? i. Yes ii. No iii. Not sure 2. Which newspaper/website do you usually use to read news? i.

How often do you read online-news? Always Usually Often Sometimes Seldom Never 5. Which area are you interested in when you read news? i. Hong Kong News ii. China News iii. Asia News iv. Yes, and sure what it exactly is ii. Yes, but do not really know about the details iii. No, never heard about it 2. On which platform did you first encounter the legislation “Offence against a law enforcement officer”? i. Online ii. Few iii. None iv. Not sure 4. Have you ever been persuaded to attend a mass protest against certain legislations through the social media platform? Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither disagree nor agree Agree Strongly agree 5. Does involving yourself in politics affect your stand on legislations? Certainly not Certainly Probably Probably not 6. City University of Hong Kong ii. The University of Hong Kong iii.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong iv. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology v. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University vi. Information obtained in the study will be used for research purposes only. You will be anonymous. All your information will only be used for academic purposes and the data will remain confidential. Participation and withdrawal Your participation is voluntary. This means that you can choose to stop at any time without negative consequences. → 2 students who have not participated in UM oppose the legislation as they heard the rude of the police from different channels, e. g. news, media, peer → 1 student who have not participated in UM has no opinion UST (4No, 2U) → 3 students who have participated in UM oppose the legislation as they think that there is a board definition of law while it violates the right of citizens at the same time (e.

g. use of foul language → offense the freedom of speech) → 1 student who have not participated in UM oppose the legislation as they heard the rude of the police from different channels, e.