Daily Archives: September 4, 2014

Unnecessary Censorship - REGULAR SHOW (Free Cake)
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When Bill Bishop, who edits the popular China-focused newsletter Sinocism, attempted to link to its July 9 edition on LinkedIn (LNKD), the Mountain View, California, company censored out a link to a Washington Post article about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Bishop received the following explanation:

We recognized when we launched a localized version of LinkedIn in China, we would need to adhere to the requirements of the Chinese government in order to operate in China. We also aim to be transparent about our actions and their impact on our members, hence the prior notification of your content being blocked, LinkedIn said.

The content that Bishop posted falls within LinkedINs adherence to Chinas censorship laws. But there was just one problem. Bishop posted the link from a U.S. IP address, as he was traveling in Maryland at the time.

LinkedIns censorship policy in China, a market that the career networking website sees as integral to its global growth strategy, has attracted significant controversy since the company launched a Chinese-language version of its site this February. Unlike fellow social networks like Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR), which are firewalled in China because they refuse to comply with Chinese censorship demands, LinkedIn eliminates sensitive articles from its website in order to remain accessible in the country. Under the current regulations, LinkedIn users anywhere in the world -- not just in China -- cannot view stories that violate that countrys censorship laws.

It is this stipulation that has drawn so much criticism -- and has led LinkedIn to publicly consider a reversal. But if Bishops experience is any indication, the companys policies appear to be even more restrictive than advertised: LinkedIn censored an article written by a US citizen from an American IP address to users around the world. In the explanation for why it blocked Bishops July 9 newsletter: However, we only block content globally if it is posted from China IP addresses. We have decided to do so in this situation to protect the safety of our members in China.

When reached about Bishops case, Hani Durzy, LinkedIns director of communication, confirmed that the company has occasionally blocked Sinocism within China, but did not explain why Bishops link to the Washington Post story triggered the global blockage.

What accounts for this discrepancy? Bishop isnt certain. In a series of follow-up Tweets, he speculated that LinkedIN hasnt perfected its censorship practices.

From the beginning of its relationship with China, where the company boasts a user base of five million, LinkedIn has defended its cooperation with the Communist Party. In a post to announce the creation of the Chinese-language site in February, CEO Jeff Weiner wrote:

We believe that individuals in the United States, China, and beyond will benefit substantially from Chinese professionals connecting with each other and LinkedIn members in other parts of the world.

Read more from the original source:
LinkedIn Abides By Chinese Censorship Laws -- But Is It Consistent?

LinkedIn is thinking twice about its adoption of China's aggressive censorship. Photo: Reuters

Beijing: After complaints and clear examples of bowing to Chinese censorship diktats, LinkedIn says it may have acted too hastily in friending China's government.

LinkedIn executives said they were reconsidering their policies, after seven months of censoring content from China deemed too sensitive.

"We do want to get this right, and we are strongly considering changing our policy so that content from our Chinese members that is not allowed in China will still be viewed globally," Hani Durzy, a spokesman for the California-based companysaid.

The professional social networking site is the latest to wrestle with the moral quandaries that come with doing business in China amid the government's paranoia about the internet. Facebook, Twitter and Google are largely blocked here.

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LinkedIn, however, thought it could make it work. In February, the company launched its Chinese-language website and set up operations in China. In return, it promised to follow Chinese government rules and started self-censoring content.

But Mr Durzy insisted back then that the company would do so only when "legally required."

Then, in June, came the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The anniversary, a perennial headache for web users in China, is marked by a clampdown on search terms, internet speeds and intense government scrutiny.

LinkedIn users reported posts about Tiananmen being blocked even in Hong Kong, which lies outsides China's censorship firewall. LinkedIn said at the time that it was an accident. And it said that although such content was self-censored in China, it would remain "accessible elsewhere in the world".

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LinkedIn rethinks support of China's censorship

LinkedIns dilemma in China underscores the difficulty of doing business in a country with stringent censorship rules where few other US technology companies have succeeded. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

LinkedIn expanded into China this year, adopting policies in line with the countrys censorship rules. Now the worlds largest professional social-networking company is saying it may have gone too far.

When a LinkedIn user in China shares a post deemed to be in conflict with the governments rules, the company blocks the content not only in China but around the world.

LinkedIns goal is to protect members against how their content might be shared and noticed by the government, but the practice may end up stifling Chinese users seeking to spread messages outside their country.

We do want to get this right, and we are strongly considering changing our policy so that content from our Chinese members that is not allowed in China will still be viewed globally, said Hani Durzy, a spokesman for California-based LinkedIn.

The companys dilemma underscores the difficulty of doing business in a country with stringent censorship rules where few other US technology companies have succeeded.

Twitter and Facebook social-networking services are blocked in China, though Facebook is slowly expanding its advertising business there after signing a lease in central Beijing. Every company wanting to operate in China has to look within themselves and ask how do you serve your users ideally, whether thats by staying in China and operating by the rules or leaving the country, said Jason Ng, a New York-based author of Blocked on Weibo, a book on Chinese social media.

-(Bloomberg)

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LinkedIn hit by censorship in China