BEIJING – Microsoft-owned social network LinkedIn has halted new member sign-ups for its service in China while it reviews compliance with local laws, said the company in a statement.
The careers-focused site has had a Chinese-language presence since 2014, when it decided to expand by agreeing to stick to strict censorship laws, and now has over 50 million users in the country.
It is one of the few international tech platforms to enjoy access to China, where all subjects considered politically sensitive are censored in the name of stability, and internet giants are urged to block unwanted content online.
“We’re a global platform with an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations for our localised version of LinkedIn in China,” said the firm in a notice dated yesterday, without providing further details.
Tech giants that refuse to comply with the smothering censorship laws, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, have long been blocked behind the country’s “Great Firewall”.
Microsoft, however, operates LinkedIn by complying with the rules through a local joint venture.
LinkedIn has been criticised in China for pulling the professional accounts of dissidents – which it later said was in error – and scratching politically sensitive content from its pages.
It is not immediately clear which laws prodded LinkedIn’s suspension of sign-ups.
Last week, Microsoft said a state-sponsored hacking group operating out of China is exploiting previously unknown security flaws in its Exchange email services to steal data from business users – although Beijing previously hit back at United States accusations of state-sponsored cybertheft.
A LinkedIn spokesman told Bloomberg that the move is not related to the hack.
Microsoft’s journey in China has not been entirely smooth sailing, with the company’s search engine, Bing, temporarily taken offline in 2019 – prompting speculation that it had been blocked by censors.
In 2014, Chinese competition authorities opened an anti-monopoly investigation into Microsoft and its Windows software, with inspectors raiding the group’s offices in four Chinese cities, confiscating files and questioning employees. – AFP, March 10, 2021
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