Last US SNS in China, LinkedIn, Also Withdraws... "Service Suspended Due to Increased Censorship" (Comprehensive)

Facebook, Twitter, and others all blocked by the Great Firewall
"Reorganized into a job board service with SNS features removed"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Microsoft (MS) announced that LinkedIn, the world's largest business social networking service (SNS) operated by the company, will terminate its service in China. Due to increased censorship by Chinese authorities and successive account suspensions, LinkedIn is expected to remove its SNS functions and retain only the job posting and job search board features. With LinkedIn's withdrawal, all American SNS platforms have been 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 service will be reorganized into 'InJobs,' a job site without SNS functions."

With the withdrawal of LinkedIn, the last remaining American SNS in China, all U.S.-based SNS platforms have been expelled. Previously, major SNS platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google were expelled from China starting in 2018, with access completely blocked. The Chinese government blocks official access to American SNS platforms through an internet censorship and blocking system known as the 'Great Firewall.' Both Chinese citizens and foreigners residing in China circumvent this firewall using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access these platforms.

LinkedIn, with over 500 million members worldwide, is the largest business-oriented SNS and has been actively used mainly for job recruitment and job seeking. It was known to have faced less interference from Chinese authorities compared to other SNS platforms. However, due to increased censorship starting this year, the decision to discontinue the service was made.

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 content censorship functions within 30 days.

Following this, Chinese authorities began arbitrarily blocking LinkedIn accounts of human rights activists, professors, journalists, and others active in China. WSJ reported that more than 10 LinkedIn accounts were deleted in China in June alone.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.