Hong Kong cabinet member floats internet curbs 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 AFP 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 seen as pro-China were 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.

"The government will not rule out the possibility of placing a ban on the internet," he told AFP.

Ip said the internet has been crucial to protesters, who have no public leaders and use online forums and encrypted messaging apps to mobilise. But he said the government recognised any online shutdown could have a knock-on effect.

"I think a condition for implementing the Internet ban would be not to affect any businesses in Hong Kong," he said.

The executive council is Hong Kong's cabinet, an advisory body to Lam. She announced the ban on face masks immediately after meeting with the council on Friday.

On Monday night, hardcore protesters returned to the streets, vandalising store fronts, blocking roads in multiple areas and trashing two subway stations. Police fired tear gas in at least three locations although the clashes were less sustained and widespread than in recent nights.