Hong Kong spent more than HK$600 billion ($76.44 billion) on various pandemic relief programs for the past three years, forcing it to run rare budget deficits.
Hong Kong's Department of Justice also recently sought to block a pro-democracy song, "Glory to Hong Kong" from being disseminated online and cited 32 instances where it appeared on Google -owned YouTube.
Other companies have also taken steps to filter content that reaches Hong Kong.
Disney has chosen not to bring two episodes of "The Simpsons" that include references to critiques of the Chinese government to its streaming service in Hong Kong, the Journal reported.
Hong Kong users have reported that Tencent's tool temporarily blocked access to legitimate Western sites like Twitter competitor Mastodon, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and coding website GitLab.
Persons:
Disney, that's, Tencent, Read, what's
Organizations:
HK, Google, Microsoft, Street, Hong Kong's Department of Justice, Facebook, American, of Commerce, Apple, Disney, Wall Street, CNBC, YouTube
Locations:
Hong Kong, China, U.S