LinkedIn is calling it quits on its China operations citing challenging operating environment thanks to strict government compliance requirements.
Microsoft is shutting down its China version of the popular professional networking site and joins other American social networks like Twitter and Facebook that don’t operate in China.
Github and Amazon’s review system are the only American tech companies that host user-generated content in that country.
Early this year, LinkedIn officials were told to better regulate the content and gave them a month to bring those changes. Profiles of China-focused human-right activists, academics and journalists were also being blocked in China according to Wall Street Journal citing prohibited content.
“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. We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China,” said Mohak Shroff, LinkedIn’s senior vice president of engineering in a company blog post.
In the post, LinkedIn shares that they will launch a new InJobs app later this year. The app will still help people search for jobs but it will miss LinkedIn’s social media features such as the social feed or allow users to share articles or posts.
LinkedIn has been operating in China since 2014 even with its limited features.
It’s worth noting that China is LinkedIn’s third-largest market and that LinkedIn brings in $10 billion in annual revenue.
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion.
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