ICYMI, last week @LinkedIn said it suspended new user registration in China while it works to comply with local laws. Previously, Chinese media had loudly objected to LinkedIn’s parent company, #Microsoft, accusing Beijing of being behind a massive email server hack. A thread:
In a statement Tuesday, LinkedIn said the pause was temporary: “We’re a global platform with an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations.” No specific articles of legislation were mentioned. news.linkedin.com/2021/march/an-…
The Microsoft-owned company with roughly 740 million members worldwide has been a rare success story in China, where many global social media platforms are inaccessible without VPNs. nytimes.com/2014/10/06/tec…
But @LinkedIn has also faced criticism for censoring critics of the Communist Party and failing to crack down on China’s espionage and intelligence-gathering activities.
In early March, Microsoft said hackers in China were responsible for a barrage of cyberattacks on the company’s #Exchange email servers… edition.cnn.com/2021/03/03/tec…
News of the U.S. government probe rankled Beijing. The Party-backed Global Times wrote that such a move would “poison relations between the two countries.” globaltimes.cn/page/202103/12…
(This article was published the same day @LinkedIn announced its suspension on new Chinese users.)
On Wednesday, Global Times said Microsoft was not being “punished” for the hacking allegations. “The suspension of @LinkedIn sign-ups and the claimed hack attack are separate events, and some Western media are trying to mix the two up to … vilify China.” globaltimes.cn/page/202103/12…
When @SixthTone tried to register a new LinkedIn account on Friday, the site redirected to a page displaying part of the suspension statement.
“Please try again later,” it added.
In response to an emailed request for comment, @LinkedIn China’s public relations department said the suspension was aimed at “creating better economic opportunities for Chinese users,” as well as ensuring that all content on the platform complies with local laws.
In January, China’s internet regulator announced new rules for social media accounts, instructing platforms to establish content-monitoring systems and purge posts that “fabricate information to distort facts and mislead the public.”
(The rules came into effect a month later, in mid-February, but it’s unclear whether they factor into the @LinkedIn case. )
The suspension hasn’t gone unnoticed among LinkedIn users in China. One user, surnamed Song, told @SixthTone it would be a pity if the platform became censored on the Chinese mainland.
“Politics shouldn’t get in the way of professional communication,” she said.
According to LinkedIn’s official website, the platform was founded in 2003 and now operates in more than 200 countries and regions. As of Q3 last year, it had 52 million users in China.
In December 2016, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, a price some commentators found ridiculous. forbes.com/sites/petercoh…
Last year, the networking site cut 960 jobs, or around 6% of its global workforce, due to strain from the COVID-19 pandemic. reuters.com/article/us-lin…
I’ll conclude by saying that, while it’s true there is no evidence that the @LinkedIn suspension was retaliation for Microsoft’s hacking allegations, you’d think the authorities would have allowed our article to publish if they really felt secure in their righteous indignation.
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THREAD: Last week, China’s Cabinet announced that, for the first time, fees will be charged for “excessive” freedom of information requests, potentially meaning huge out-of-pocket expenses for lawyers and others who rely heavily on public information from the Chinese government.
According to a notice published Dec. 1, government offices will be able to choose from two different rate schemes: one based on frequency, one based on size. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengc…
The “size” route is especially problematic. Here’s why:
If you’re an activist or a lawyer seeking a copy of an 800-page environmental impact assessment report, it’s going to cost you around $4,000 under this scheme.
THREAD on a first-year university student in eastern China who became a controversial figure on Weibo after using the microblogging platform to extensively — and courageously — chronicle her sex life.
The woman, known by her online alias Xiaomugoune (a homophone of a Chinese phrase meaning “collared pup”), published a series of journal entry-style posts giving readers a peek into her on-campus sexual encounters — some of them paid, she says — with mostly older students.
“It was drizzling. Under the blinding headlights of passing cars, we were two young troublemakers awaiting trial,” she wrote in one post.
“The room’s round bed design was very awkward and inconvenient. Altogether, our phones fell into the cracks three times,” read another.
Foreigners have actually been barred from Chinese livestreaming platforms since Jan 2017, when the central government mandated that they would henceforth be required to register with authorities.
#Thread based on a story @SixthTone did at the time that could not be published: 1/
In early 2017, foreign users of livestreaming apps like gay social networking platform #Blued and Weibo-backed #Yizhibo began receiving notices that their accounts were suspended. 2/
Why? A notice from the Ministry of Culture had said that all online broadcasts should “be beneficial to the promotion of socialist core values” … 3/
THREAD: China’s media regulator is now requiring real-name registration for authors of online literature as authorities move to ensure that publishing platforms gravitate toward content with a “positive and healthy tone.”
Publishers of online literature must assume greater responsibility for their domains. In addition to embracing real names and healthy tones, they should control output, manage bestseller lists and top comments, and discourage overly homogeneous content. 2/ xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-…
Government publishing authorities at all levels will be required to establish teams to oversee the online literature platforms registered within their jurisdictions. Authorities should also punish or reward online publishers based on assessments of their “social impact.” 3/
Africans in Guangzhou are being evicted from their homes and turned away from hotels, forced onto the streets, amid rising xenophobia and concerns of a #COVID19 rebound.
@castillorocas Please read the article, people. This is not about Guangzhou authorities enforcing — or African residents breaking — local laws and regulations. Rather, it’s about the arbitrary, discriminatory policies of some landlords, hotels, and other businesses.