Decision Ends The Era Of Western-Owned Social Media In China
October 14, 2021—In a sign that the global world is becoming more divided, Microsoft‘s LinkedIn is closing its operations in China.
The company is planning to replace its LinkedIn in China with a China-centric application called InJobs. The goal of that standalone app is to help “China-based professionals find jobs in China and Chinese companies find quality candidates.” Notably, it will not include a social media feed and will not allow users to share posts or articles.
Mohak Shroff, LinkedIn’s senior vice president of engineering announced the decision today in a blog post.
“While we’ve found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed,” Shroff wrote. “We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China. Given this, we’ve made the decision to sunset the current localized version of LinkedIn, which is how people in China access LinkedIn’s global social media platform, later this year.”
Shroff said the company would continue working with businesses in China to create economic opportunities.
Censorship in China
The company has previously come under fire in China for not controlling political content. The New York Times reported on the issue last March, the Cyberspace Administration of China required the company to conduct self-evaluation and report to the regulator regarding “objectionable posts circulating” around the time of lawmakers’ annual meeting.
According to the paper, the service had provided access to 50 million members in China.
China’s government already blocks other social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google. LinkedIn began operating in China in 2014. The company will shutter its platform there this year.
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