Fans of the popular book and film franchise The Hunger Games will recognize the hand signal instantly: the middle three fingers of the hand, raised to the sky. A gesture of resistance against the repressive government in the fictional world of Panem, it has now become a very real symbol of protest in Thailand at demonstrations against the junta that took power after the May 22 coup d’etat.

Crowds making the gesture have been pulled off the streets, according to reports, and a lone protestor was dragged into a taxi and arrested after making the hand signal.

“If it is an obvious form of resistance, then we have to control it so it doesn’t cause any disorder in the country,” military spokesperson Colonel Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak told the Associated Press. Although he said individuals would not be arrested for making the hand signal, “if it is a political gathering of five people or more, then we will have to take some action.”

It’s a response that—perhaps by design—will resonate with international fans of The Hunger Games, which includes vivid scenes of repression where protestors making the three-finger salute are attacked and dragged away by a totalitarian government.

At The Bangkok Post, writer Atiya Achakulwisut evoked the dystopian series as warning to the government against cracking down on protestors: “If Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha reads or watches The Hunger Games, he would know that what triggered the ‘revolution’ is not the three-finger salute. It’s the public execution of an old man… Right now, there is no film screen heroine Katniss Everdeen to lead the anti-coup crowd. The military does not want to quell the movement to the point that one is produced.”

Although the junta imposed a media blackout for television, satellite, and radio thanks to the immense popularity of social media in Thailand, discussion and criticism of the coup has continued on platforms like Twitter and Facebook—including tweets both documenting and encouraging the salute.