Microsoft is Shutting Down LinkedIn in China

As internet censorship increases in China, tech giant Microsoft has decided to shut down its LinkedIn website in the country.

LinkedIn had remained the last big U.S. social network that was operating in China.

The company will launch a China-specific version of LinkedIn later this year for job searching that will not include LinkedIn’s social media features.

Social media platforms and websites like Twitter and Facebook have been blocked for more than a decade in China and Google shut its operations down in 2010.

Microsoft said on Thursday that it would shut down LinkedIn due to a “significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”

A Chinese internet regulator had told LinkedIn in March to better moderate its content and gave it a 30-day deadline according to a Wall Street Journal report this week.

In September LinkedIn blocked several U.S. journalists in China, citing “prohibited content” in their profiles. The profiles of academics and researchers have also been reportedly blocked on the platform in China this year.

Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.