Microsoft is being forced to shut down LinkedIn in China, saying that it is too difficult to keep up with the government’s increasing restrictions.
Another Chinese ban?
The Chinese government is no stranger to banning social media apps, like Facebook and Twitter, and it seems their tight control of social media apps is now turning developers away from the country. LinkedIn was the final major Western social media platform operating.
After a year of handling questions about LinkedIn hiding the profiles of journalists, Microsoft has decided it is simply not feasible for the career-networking site to continue in China.
Launching in China in 2014, the app promised to adhere to the government’s requirements to operate in China, but expressed their disagreement with government censorship and said that their business operations would remain transparent.
Blacklistings
It seems with the recent blacklisting of several journalistic accounts, including China-based Melissa Chan and Greg Bruno, as well as increasing restrictions, Microsoft has been pushed too far.
At the time, US senator Rick Scott said of the move: “[it is a] gross appeasement and an act of submission to Communist China.”
The end?
In a blog, the LinkedIn senior vice-president, Mohak Shroff said: “We’re facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”
In a statement posted by the firm, the operators of LinkedIn said: “While we are going to sunset the localised version of LinkedIn in China later this year, we will continue to have a strong presence in China to drive our new strategy and are excited to launch the new InJobs app later this year.”
The InJobs app is designed to be purely a job listing app, without the social media aspect or the ability to share articles.
