SNS Feature Removed, Only Job Board Maintained
Chinese Authorities Strengthen Censorship from March... Consecutive Account Closures
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] LinkedIn, the world's largest business social networking service (SNS) operated by Microsoft (MS), announced that it will terminate its service in China. Due to increased censorship by Chinese authorities and successive account suspensions, LinkedIn plans to remove its SNS features and retain only the job posting board function. With LinkedIn's withdrawal, all American SNS platforms will be expelled from China.
According to CNBC on the 14th (local time), MS stated in a press release, "Due to intensified censorship by Chinese authorities and stricter compliance requirements, we will discontinue LinkedIn services in China," adding, "Starting at the end of this year, the InJobs service, a job site without SNS features, will be relaunched."
With LinkedIn's announcement of withdrawal, all American SNS platforms have been expelled from China. Previously, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and others had all withdrawn due to increased censorship and online content regulation by Chinese authorities. LinkedIn, with over 500 million members worldwide, is the largest business SNS primarily used for job searching and recruitment, and had experienced less interference from Chinese authorities compared to other SNS platforms, but this has reportedly intensified since this year.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), since March, Chinese authorities have strengthened regulations citing concerns over talent outflow and the potential distribution of subversive content, demanding LinkedIn to enhance censorship functions within 30 days.
Subsequently, Chinese authorities began arbitrarily blocking LinkedIn accounts of human rights activists, professors, journalists, and others active in China. WSJ reported that in June alone, more than 10 LinkedIn accounts were deleted in China for unclear reasons.
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