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Hong Kong bike sharing firm unlocks its bikes amid protests
LocoBike says its shared bikes are free for students to take due to “system breakdown”
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
A bike-sharing service in Hong Kong says it’s giving out free rides in two protest-embroiled neighborhoods. LocoBike announced in a Facebook post that due to a “system breakdown”, all its bikes between Sha Tin and the train station at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have been unlocked. Police and protesters were engaged in a violent standoff on campus Tuesday.
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“Students don’t need to call and ask. Just ride first. Get on quickly, please,” the post reads.
Hong Kong is in its fifth month of anti-government protests. Demonstrators have come up with unconventional uses of technology to spread their message. Apps and services such as Apple’s AirDrop, Pokémon Go and Tinder, for instance, have been used to organize protests.
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