Thanks for connecting... Or not. Microsoft's LinkedIn is removing itself from China's network. The software giant is shutting down LinkedIn in China, citing the country's intensifying pressure to censor. FYI: China was LinkedIn’s third-largest market, with 50M+ users. Microsoft plans to launch a new China-specific version of LinkedIn this year, which won't include social features: no ability to share opinions, news articles, or "some personal news."
- LinkedIn was the last major American social network still running in China, and it’s the biggest tech departure from China in years.
- The networking site launched in China in 2014 with limited features in order to comply with China's strict internet laws. (Refresher: Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26B in 2016.)
- Last year, LinkedIn received 42 requests from Chinese authorities to take down content, and acted on 38. Then last month LinkedIn blocked the profiles of several US journalists in China.
Great walls of fire... China’s “Great Firewall” monitors and censors online. Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China since 2009, and Google left in 2010 after declining to censor search results. This year China blocked the social audio app Clubhouse and the encrypted chat app Signal. Some savvy internet users can access Western sites through VPNs, but many don’t.
- American tech companies aren't thrilled about being blocked from billions of potential users in China — even Zuck’s Mandarin couldn’t get FB unbanned.
- But they also face criticism in the West if they censor content to appease the communist government. Cue: LinkedIn’s departure. A few other examples...
- Google dropped the China-compliant search engine it was building, and Zoom faced backlash for shutting down a human-rights account to comply with Chinese law.
It's a tale of two internets... The only way to get social in China is to get censored by China. The Great Firewall has created two internets operated by the world’s superpowers. For the US, China’s digital wall blocks a major business opportunity. For China, it’s hurting interest from US investors and biz partners. As China increasingly cracks down on its own tech companies, US companies are becoming even more wary of making the move.