Thread by @daphnehk

I’ve been known to criticize Microsoft for having a lot of bark and not much bite when it comes to protecting Internet users’ rights. But this LinkedIn China pullout is a serious move and they are to be congratulated. bbc.com/news/technolog…

Of course, as the article notes, “LinkedIn had been the only major Western social-media platform operating in China” and blocked journalists critical of China. Still. They tried something, they wound up yielding ground in ways they surely didn’t like, and they decided to stop.

Let’s congratulate Microsoft on waking away from the Chinese market (for this at least) and go back to scrutinizing the major, human rights-damaging compromises that platforms are being pressured to make in Russia and Turkey right now.

Attention from the world — press, civil society, governments — can help determine whether platforms give in to Russian and Turkish govts’ pressure to compromise Internet users’ rights and safety.
That attention is grievously lacking right now.