LinkedIn To Shutter In China, Launching Version With No Social Networking
Image via kovop58 / Shutterstock.com
After seven years of holding a professional social networking presence in China, Microsoft has announced that it will be closing down the localized version of LinkedIn in the country, citing greater pressures with censorship compliance.
Back in March, LinkedIn was asked to further regulate its content by a local internet watchdog and had 30 days to make the changes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of its responses involved it banning academics, researchers, and US journalists for posting “prohibited content.”
From day one, Chinese LinkedIn has been designed as a lite version of its international counterpart to abide by the nation’s online policies. While LinkedIn knew it “would mean adherence to requirements of the Chinese government on Internet platforms… we took this approach in order to create value for our members in China and around the world,” details Mohak Shroff, LinkedIn’s Engineering VP.
However, the company has reached its limits and says it will “sunset” China’s version of LinkedIn later this year.
“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,” LinkedIn explains. “We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”
In its place, Microsoft will launch a new standalone career app called ‘InJobs’ in China. The successor will not feature a social feed or options to let users share posts or articles.
LinkedIn’s exit makes it the very last major US social network to cease its social media business in China, CNBC notes. Google did the same over a decade ago in 2010, while Facebook and Twitter have been banned in the nation for longer.
[via CNBC and Wall Street Journal, cover image via kovop58 / Shutterstock.com]
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