Hong Kong govt issues curbs on internet access to contain unrest

Hong Kong’s government may curb access to the internet in a bid to contain months of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests, a cabinet member told on Monday, after an emergency-law ban on demonstrators wearing face masks failed to quell the unrest.

The warning came as the international financial hub remained partly paralysed from three days of protests in which the city’s rail network and business outlets are seen as pro-China was badly vandalised.

The surge in protests was in response to the Hong Kong government’s announcement on Friday it would invoke colonial-era emergency laws not used for more than 50 years to ban demonstrators from wearing face masks.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the ban was needed to contain the unrest, which began nearly four months ago and has seen millions of people take to the streets demanding China stop strangling their freedoms.

Ip Kwok-him, a veteran pro-Beijing politician and member of Hong Kong’s executive council, fuelled those concerns when he said controls on the internet could be introduced.