Microsoft announced Thursday it will shut down its LinkedIn site in China as the country continues to push on with its censorship of the internet.
LinkedIn was the last major U.S. social network still operating in China, which has some of the strictest censorship rules in the world. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have been blocked for more than a decade in the country, while Google closed its operations in 2010.
In a statement, Microsoft said it would shut down LinkedIn due to a “significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”
The company added that it will launch a job search site in China that doesn’t have LinkedIn’s social media features.
