LinkedIn suspends new sign-ups in China to review compliance with local laws

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn on Tuesday announced it has “temporarily” suspended new sign-ups in China to ensure it remains in compliance with local laws. LinkedIn, in a press release on March 9, said the business platform is suspending new sign-ups for its service in China to review if the company policy is in compliance with local laws. LinkedIn is one of the few international social media platforms to operate in China as the Communist regime is known to have banned all other major tech giants who failed or denied to adhere to its censorship laws. 

“While we remain focused on our goal of creating economic opportunity for our members in China, we're temporarily pausing new member sign-ups for LinkedIn China as we work to ensure we remain in compliance with local law. We’re a global platform with an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations for our localized version of LinkedIn in China,” LinkedIn said in a statement. 

LinkedIn in China

LinkedIn was granted access to operate in China in 2014 after it reportedly agreed to comply with the country’s censorship laws. LinkedIn has been criticised in the past for towing the Communist Party’s line in China after it banned several critics of Xi Jinping’s government and blocked content slamming Beijing. Also, note that other major international tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are banned in China. 

However, in the past, Microsoft has faced the wrath of the Chinese government as well. In 2014, the American tech behemoth was under investigation for its alleged monopolistic practices in China, which even led to inter-city raids on its offices in the country. In 2019, Microsoft’s search engine Bing temporarily went offline, triggering speculations that the Chinese government has banned the product. But Bing was back online a day after the outage, slashing all rumours.