Linkedin shuts down China site

LinkedIn, the microsoft-owned social networking platform, announced on October 15th that it will end its seven-year operation in China, citing an increasingly challenging operating environment. The move represents the last major American social network to operate openly in China.

Linkedin has 53 million users in China, about 7 percent of its total users. Microsoft recently said linkedin had topped $10bn in annual revenue, but did not disclose how much of its total revenue came from China.

Linkedin says it will replace its Chinese site later this year with a separate job application called InJobs. However, the new service will not offer linkedin’s social media features – users will not be able to subscribe or share posts and news articles.

In March, Chinese Internet regulators reprimanded linkedin and gave it 30 days to control content on the platform, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. At the time, linkedin suspended the registration of new members in China, saying the move was to ensure the site complied with local regulations.

In recent months, several journalists and think tank researchers based in China and Taiwan have received emails from linkedin saying that their accounts, messages and updates will be blocked in China because their linkedin profiles contain banned or sensitive content.

In recent months, linkedin has cooperated with Chinese government censors to block sensitive public content on some users’ personal pages.

Deutsche Welle asked linkedin about the issue, and they said at the time: “We will enforce the Chinese government’s content restrictions when necessary to create value for our members in China and around the world. We will continue to use multiple avenues to inform affected members in China of our practices.”

When linkedin first entered China in 2014, then-Chief Executive Jeff Weiner said that while the company supported free speech, offering a localized service in China meant complying with local censorship requirements. Linkedin has since repeated this sentiment several times.

When linkedin announced the closure of its Chinese site on its Official English-language blog, the company also said it “supports freedom of expression,” but made no mention of it on the Chinese version, Stance News reported.

In a letter to linkedin Members in China signed by Lu Jian, president of linkedin China, the company said that looking for a job has become the main reason for Chinese users to come to linkedin, and to better serve Chinese users, it will adjust its current strategy and release a series of new products and services focused on providing the value of “connected career opportunities.”

The Financial Times reported that the Biden administration welcomed linkedin’s decision to pull out of China and accused the Chinese government of forcing companies to be “complicit in repressive and authoritarian behavior.”

“The private sector and the international community should oppose China’s use of its market weapons to stifle free speech and human rights,” the Financial Times quoted a senior US official as saying.

Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University professor who advises multinational companies on their Operations in China, also told the Wall Street Journal that linkedin’s reputation and global business model are also at risk if it continues to censor on behalf of Chinese authorities.