LinkedIn is set to close down its social networking site in China, bluebloodz.com has learned.
The nerdiest platform owned by Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will be shutting down the localized version of its popular networking website after “facing a more challenging operational environment and huge compliance requirements in China”.
LinkedIn platform has 53m users in China, this makes the 7 % of its total user base. Microsoft is yet to disclose how much the 7% of China contributes to the revenue of the LinkedIn platform. According to reports, the revenue of Microsoft has passed an annual hit mark of $10bn.
Microsoft will as a matter of urgency replace the Chinese version of its website with a fast rising new job-board service called “InJobs”. The new version of its website doesn’t possess the full functionality of the Original LinkedIn site. The Chinese users will not be able to review important articles or spread posts.
In March, China’s internet regulators called on Microsoft [LinkedIn] and gave a directive that they should clean up their online content. In line with the directive, on the same month, LinkedIn was said to have “for a brief period of time paused new members in china from signing up on the platform”.
Popular activists and online writers who beamed their searchlight on China have in time past, had their profiles disabled or banned in the country in recent times for posting “forbidden content” .
LinkedIn officially becomes the last major US social media company to exit from China.