{"id":1257,"date":"2014-06-07T03:01:54","date_gmt":"2014-06-07T03:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=1257"},"modified":"2014-06-07T03:01:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-07T03:01:54","slug":"linkedin-allows-censorship-in-mainland-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/linkedin-allows-censorship-in-mainland-china","title":{"rendered":"LinkedIn Allows Censorship in Mainland China"},"content":{"rendered":"

After LinkedIn executives admitted in February that compliance with Beijing\u2019s censorship demands would be required for the successful launch of an official Simplified Chinese version\u2014a launch that expanded the network\u2019s user base by more than 5 million, the social networking service has followed through. As Beijing was tightening physical and digital controls for the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, some commemorative content posted by LinkedIn users was not visible in mainland China. For Business Spectator, Fergus Ryan reports on the broadening scope of Chinese censorship:<\/span><\/p>\n

The tentacles of Chinese censorship have extended to the US professional social media network LinkedIn on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. The reach of Chinese censorship is far wider than previously thought, and includes the international version of LinkedIn as well as people who are located outside of China.<\/p>\n

That the censorship extends outside mainland China, and to English-language users of the site, is concerning \u2014 and exceeds the measures thought necessary for LinkedIn to do business with China. For the larger business world it spotlights a significant operational risk: that the steps required to satisfy and maintain a relationship with Beijing can increase over time. […]<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very unhappy about it. I think it\u2019s really unprofessional. Especially as I was only sharing things that are already in the public domain,\u201d Ms Couchman told China Spectator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t put anything like \u2018the government sucks\u2019 or \u2018it\u2019s very, very bad behaviour\u2019. I haven\u2019t actually expressed my personal opinion, I\u2019ve just shared the facts of the article. I think it\u2019s outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Daily Beast also reported some Linkedin users in Hong Kong, who are usually outside of the Great Firewall of China, were also affected by the recent crackdown. […] [Source]<\/p>\n

Hong Kong-based users Patrick Poon and Charles Mok also received notices from LinkedIn that content would not be seen by LinkedIn users in China:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nUpdated coverage of LinkedIn\u2019s self-censoring from Quartz notes that the company had mistakenly sent Hong Kong users the disclaimer, and explains why some users based outside of China may have seen their content affected:<\/p>\n

A LinkedIn spokesperson responded to our request for comment, saying that the company sent a mistaken notification advising a small number of users in Hong Kong that their Tiananmen Square-related content was blocked, but that LinkedIn did not actually block content outside of mainland China (meaning Hong Kong LinkedIn is uncensored).<\/p>\n

Another person to encounter LinkedIn\u2019s censorship was Helen Couchman, an artist and longtime Beijing resident who moved to Britain in February 2013, according to the China Spectator. Couchman said that LinkedIn deleted her post linking to an article about the Chinese authorities\u2019 detention of Guo Jian, a Chinese-Australian artist and friend of Couchman\u2019s. (She shared the same article on Facebook and Twitter, where her posts are still available.) She subsequently tweeted her dismay at LinkedIn [.]<\/p>\n

[…] Couchman\u2019s LinkedIn account appears to be hosted on the mainland China site, cn.linkedin.com, which might explain why her posts fell under its censorship. […] [Source]<\/p>\n

While the global application of LinkedIn\u2019s self-censorship policy may not be as far-reaching as early reports suggested, China\u2019s economic clout has in the past worked to encourage self-censorship outside of the mainland. Rights groups and media activists have expressed uneasiness about Beijing\u2019s increasing influence the news media on Taiwan and Honk Kong\u2014a semi-autonomous region legally immune to Beijing\u2019s tight media constraints. Over concerns about their business in the mainland, data and media company Bloomberg was accused of quashing a story on the financial ties of top Chinese leaders, and has allegedly censored sensitive stories from their terminals in China.<\/p>\n

Also see \u201cWhat Might Twitter Look Like in China\u201c, via CDT.
\nFrom:http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2014\/06\/linkedin-allows-censorship-mainland-china\/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+chinadigitaltimes%2FbKzO+%28China+Digital+Times+%28CDT%29%29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After LinkedIn executives admitted in Fe … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[37,1343,1348,311],"views":888,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1259,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257\/revisions\/1259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}