LinkedIn stops its Chinese version, due to compliance with the country’s regulations

After operating a localized version of LinkedIn in the People’s Republic of China for seven years, LinkedIn announced Thursday morning to shut down the dedicated version of the site, citing difficulties encountered in complying with the country’s regulatory requirements.

“Although we have been successful in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunities, we have not found the same level of success in the more social aspects of exchange and information,” writes the vice president. Mohak Shroff, LinkedIn engineering senior in a blog post. “We are also facing a much more difficult operating environment and higher compliance requirements in China,” he continues. “In view of these elements, we have made the decision to suspend the current local version of LinkedIn […] later this year. “

Instead, he writes, LinkedIn will offer an exclusive feed for jobs later this year, called InJobs, which “will not include a social feed or the ability to share posts or articles.”

Issues since launch in 2014

Mohak Shroff says the narrow focus “aligns with our commitment to creating economic opportunity for all members.”

When LinkedIn announced the site in 2014, which is offered in Simplified Chinese, the company defended its decision as “the right one,” despite censorship concerns:

Expanding our presence in China is a challenge that our company must address directly, clearly, and consistent with our core values. As a condition of operating in the country, the Chinese government is imposing censorship requirements on Internet platforms. LinkedIn strongly supports free speech and fundamentally disagrees with government censorship. At the same time, we also believe that the absence of LinkedIn in China would deprive Chinese professionals of a way to connect with other people on our global platform, thus limiting the ability of Chinese citizens to pursue and achieve the most important economic opportunities, the dreams and rights over them.

In weighing our options in China over the past few years, we have sought the advice of many experts, including business leaders, policy makers, global human rights organizations, and China analysts. His advice was invaluable to us as we charted our course. During this same period, we also discussed and debated our China strategy internally, in an extensive series of meetings attended by all members of our management team.

Expanding our service to China raises tough questions, but it’s clear to us that the decision to proceed is the right one. We believe that people in the United States, China, and beyond will greatly benefit from connecting Chinese professionals with each other and with LinkedIn members in other parts of the world.

Source: .com