In managing the thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong’s financial district, some of the censors’ tried and true tactics still work.  Several sudden drops in mobile connectivity in Hong Kong over the past few days, suggesting a police shutdown of mobile networks.

But the growing popularity of VPNs, WeChat, and other workarounds has long put a strain on the Great Firewall. And now a massive effort to push information about what’s happening in Hong Kong onto China’s mainland is making that more apparent, and more relevant, than ever.

Protesters have fallen back on apps like FireChat, which allows chatting with others nearby even without an Internet connection – perfect for the densely packed HK protests.

Monday’s shuttering of Instagram resolved an especially touchy issue for the Communist Party: the sharing of mass protest photos that could very well remind mainlanders of 1989. But the decision to kill the app, which was very popular in China, also might have backfired on Beijing. Interest in VPNs, providing safe passage over the Great Firewall, has spiked in the last week.

Those one or two million people who do know the story coming out of Hong Kong might not know the true story. While a total media blackout is a losing fight for Beijing in the smartphone age, the Communist Party has another tool at its disposal: spin.

Hong Kong and the mainland share little modern history. And loyal state-run outlets have tried especially hard this week to frame the protesting Hong Kongers as lacking patriotism as well. It’s a message that resonated with much of the mainland on the week of China’s National Day this past Wednesday.  Tthe Umbrella Revolution’s cause is not about economics directly. It’s about democracy. And while images and information from the protesters carry loud and clear to the West, for now they’re just poking holes in the Great Firewall and hoping their message is heard, unfiltered, on the other side.