There are small armies of social engineers sitting in air-conditioned bunkers somewhere in the US directing botnets to spam fake news and mass vote on choices most likely to escalate tensions.
They failed in Venezuela and I have full confidence they will fail again here as HK Government have more facility and resources to deal with this situation, The majority just needs to be confident and firm on the resolve and they will ultimately move on to softer target to manipulate. While a nuisance at this time and looking at positive, it is a good exercise to prepare and take countermeasures against these malicious actors.
Also in an age of activist journalism, MSM is no longer in business of providing balanced coverage for common good and cannot be counted on to check and counterbalance such abuses as they are only interested in selling a narrative that sells. MSM interject their activism with pretense of concern for well-being of HK.
It is a very good justification for the great firewall of China and proves again China's leadership is wise.
That said, these rioters still need to be held accountable to face the consequences for their criminal activities.