Twitter launched an emoji intended to highlight the “Milk Tea Alliance”, a movement in which pro-democracy activists in Asia meet. – AFP
It is quite a symbol. Twitter launched on April 8 an emoji intended to highlight the “milk tea alliance”, a movement that saw the light of day last year, and in which pro-democracy activists in Asia find themselves.
This alliance – so named because of the taste of the inhabitants of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand for this sweet drink -, gained momentum when, in the fall, the Thai activists, who demanded a reform of the government and of the monarchy, began to draw inspiration from the techniques used for several months in 2019 by pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters.
🧵Today we are launching an emoji for the #MilkTeaAlliance, an online solidarity alliance first started in April 2020 as a Twitter meme which has grown into a global pro-democracy movement led by activists and concerned citizens in 🇭🇰🇹🇭🇹🇼🇲🇲 and around the world.
– Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) April 8, 2021
This movement, which is a vast network of solidarity in the face of authoritarianism, has also spread in Burma, where condensed milk tea is the basis for breakfast, after the military putsch of February 1 that overthrew Aung San. Suu Kyi.
An emoji representing three different colors of milk tea
“To mark the first anniversary of the Alliance #MilkTea, we designed an emoji featuring three different colors of milk tea from regions where the Alliance was formed, ”Twitter said. This image appears in any tweet that includes the hashtag “milk tea alliance” in English, Thai, Korean and several other Asian languages.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the #MilkTeaAlliance, we designed an emoji featuring 3 different types of milk tea colors from regions where the Alliance first formed online. It automatically appears when you Tweet any of the hashtags below👇 pic.twitter.com/QiIBBbKfQc
– Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) April 8, 2021
“We are convinced that access to a free Internet is an essential right and we remain a defender and a fervent advocate of freedom of expression and we condemn them #InternetShutdowns Twitter said
accompanying his message with the new emoji.
“Always united, whatever the difficulty of the period”, for his part tweeted Joshua Wong, figurehead of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, at the announcement of this news.
The term #MilkTea used more than 11 million times since April 2020 on Twitter
The term has been used on Twitter more than 11 million times since April 2020, according to the social network, and has seen a further rise after the coup in Burma. The military regime has in recent weeks ordered nightly Internet shutdowns and banned several social networks in an attempt to weaken the anti-junta movement.
The creation of this emoji follows Twitter’s recognition of social movements #MeToo, to denounce sexual violence and #BlackLivesMatter, to denounce police violence against African Americans.