Microsoft will shut down LinkedIn service in China after facing criticism for censoring posts

Microsoft said it will shut down its LinkedIn site inside of China, days after facing public criticism for censoring the posts of several U.S. journalists.

In announcing the decision Thursday, LinkedIn said it was facing “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”

The news brings to an end the last major Western social-media site operating inside China, where the authorities have long blocked Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and other apps.

“Increased repression inside China, and greater criticism from Congress of going along with Chinese regulations, have made it unsustainable” for U.S. social-media companies, said Adam Segal, an expert on China and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations.

LinkedIn said it will “sunset” its current site later this year, but will launch a new site called InJobs that will not include a social-media feed or the ability to share posts or articles.

“Our new strategy for China is to put our focus on helping China-based professionals find jobs in China and Chinese companies find quality candidates,” LinkedIn said. It didn’t provide further details.

Chinese-owned socialmedia apps, such as WeChat and Weibo, are heavily censored to delete content that the authorities deem sensitive. And U.S. users of LinkedIn in recent weeks said they have faced similar censorship on their profiles inside China.

Those reports prompted Florida Sen. Rick Scott to write a letter to the chief executives of Microsoft and LinkedIn expressing concern that an “American company is actively censoring American journalists on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.”