[4] Some companies with ties to China had refrained from putting advertisements on any publication of the media group due to the heightened political pressure exerted on the business bodies in the city.

[5][6] Next Media's irreverent probe into sensitive social topics is what believed to be the reason of a triad-style vandalism targeted at the press offices,[7] followed by the forced shut-down in 2021.

[8][9] On 10 August 2020, Jimmy Lai, the founder of Next Digital, was arrested by the Hong Kong Police early morning that day for alleged collusion with foreign powers after a Beijing-led investigation.

[10] The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that "the arrest of media tycoon Jimmy Lai bears out the worst fears that Hong Kong's National Security Law would be used to suppress critical pro-democracy opinion and restrict press freedom".

[13][circular reference] On the day of shutdown, queues of citizens snapped up the total 1 million copies of Apple Daily's last print,[14] marking a sensational end to the paper's decades of journalism and a symbol of Hong Kong's media pluralism.

At the end of 2008, Next Media relinquished its holding in these three magazines, whose editorial management since early 2009 has been tied to TVB Weekly (the official magazine of Television Broadcasts Limited and owned by a joint venture between Malaysian media conglomerate company Astro All Asia Networks plc (Astro) and Albert Yeung's Emperor Group).