Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong have begun deleting social messaging app FireChat from their phones amid claims trolls have also adopted the popular means of communication to distort the protests.

Lee Ming-tsun, a 19-year-old student volunteer who helps man a food and water supply stand, says he has deleted the FireChat app because there were too many messages to sort through, including misinformation rumours.

Jun Luk says trolls are using FireChat to provoke protesters and create conflict. Credit:Philip Wen

"You get thousands of messages and we don't know what is right. Maybe some of the police are sending messages too, or are watching, we don't know," he said, adding that key organisers were using walkie-talkies to communicate on site at Admiralty instead.

Student protesters also pointed out that because there were no restrictions on who can join chat groups on the messaging app, there was a growing number of trolls that would spread rumours and hurl abuse.