Hong Kong (CNN)When Hong Kong police fired tear gas at peaceful pro-democracy protesters in 2014, the news moved swiftly through social media. Photos and videos of mostly student demonstrators being gassed helped fuel the outrage that ultimately drove hundreds of thousands of people into the streets.
The Umbrella Movement, as it became known, occupied parts of Hong Kong for months, shutting down highways and defying multiple attempts to remove them.
When mass protests broke out in Harare and other cities this week, authorities in Zimbabwe had no intention of letting the same thing happen: they quickly cut access to social media, including WhatsApp and other messaging services.
