https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/24/we-show-hotshots-whos-boss-how-china-disciplines-its-tech-barons

Chinese internet giants have become compliant parts of the regime they promised to disrupt. For Tencent’s Jack Ma and other tycoons the future is fraught

In April 2022, a resurgence of Covid spread seemingly unchecked through the financial centre of Shanghai. The government imposed a strict lockdown, confining millions to their homes, triggering mass-testing on a scale unseen since the initial outbreak and outraging affluent urban residents who were increasingly sceptical about China’s Covid-zero policy. In an attempt to control public opinion, the government told social media sites including WeChat – the super-app used by two-thirds of China’s population – to wipe and scrape posts deemed negative or critical of the policy.