LinkedIn stops its service in China and introduces an application that focuses only on vacancies

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn Inc said it will shut down its professional networking service in China later this year, citing "a more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements," in a move that complements the split between US and China social networks, according to a report. When Karen Wise and Paul Mozor wrote in the New York Times.

LinkedIn said it will introduce a new app for the Chinese market that will focus only on job postings, and will not contain social networking features such as sharing posts and commenting, which have been essential to LinkedIn's success in the United States and elsewhere.

LinkedIn's action ends what has been one of the longest running experiments of a foreign social network in China, where the Internet is closely controlled by the government. Twitter and Facebook were banned in the country for several years, and Google left more than a decade ago, according to a New York Times report.

The Internet in China operates behind a filter system known as the Great Firewall, is tightly controlled and is on its own, according to a New York Times report.

When LinkedIn expanded into China in 2014 with a local service, it provided a temporary model for other major foreign internet companies looking to tap into the huge, lucrative market that is heavily censored.

LinkedIn partnered with a well-connected company, and said it would help it with government relations.

But LinkedIn has also agreed to censor posts by millions of Chinese users in accordance with Chinese laws, something other US companies have often been reluctant or unable to do.

In 2014, LinkedIn acknowledged the challenge, saying that "LinkedIn strongly supports freedom of expression and fundamentally disagrees with government censorship. At the same time, we also believe that the absence of LinkedIn in China will deprive Chinese professionals of a way to communicate with others."

But 7 years later, it became clear that the experiment had not worked.

And other

Apple stop application service for the Qur'an from its store in China What are the reasons for this?

Glory Quran Application

Apple has stop the “Quran Majeed” application from its App Store in China, in compliance with the requests of the Chinese government, according to a BBC report circulated by specialized technical sites.

And “Al-Quran Majeed” is a popular application for reading the Qur’an, and other information related to prayer such as the direction of the qiblah and times of prayers, supplications, the locations of nearby mosques, and many other religious services.

"The Glorious Qur'an" is one of the most popular religious applications in China, and it is available globally and has nearly 35 million users, according to PDMS, which designed the application.

The app will still be available in other countries on the App Store and Google Play, although Google Play is also technically not available in China (people can access it via VPN services which are virtual private network).

The site "Apple Censorship" - which monitors applications on the Apple App Store - was the first to notice the recent deletion of the "Quran Majeed" application.

China officially recognizes Islam as a religion, but has also faced criticism for human rights abuses and genocide against the Muslim Uighur population in Xinjiang.

"According to Apple, our application (the Glorious Qur'an) stop from the Apple App Store in China because it contains illegal content," BDMS said in a statement, adding, "We are trying to contact the relevant Chinese authorities to resolve this issue."

Apple and comply with instructions

It is reported that Apple has faced a lot of controversy over the years about how to comply with local rules. Critics believe that many of the local content-focused regulations in certain countries amount to censorship, and that Apple is too quick to comply. And Apple argues that the first priority is to respect the laws of the countries in which they operate, regardless of whether they conform to the regulations or not.

There are additional complications for Apple besides its obligation to follow the country's rules. China is one of the company's largest markets, and Apple also relies heavily on China to keep its hardware supply chain running.

A New York Times report had claimed that Apple is disrupting applications in China if the government does not like it. The apps cannot discuss topics such as the events of Tiananmen Square, the Falun Gong spiritual cult, the Dalai Lama, and the independence of Tibet and Taiwan.

And the website "Nine to Five Mac" (9to5mac) - which specializes in Apple affairs - quoted the "Apple Sensorship" website, asking the American company to stand up to China, and face the consequences that may follow.

"Apple is currently being transferred to a supervisory office in Beijing," said Benjamin Ismail, project manager at Apple Sensorship. "They need to do the right thing, and then face any reaction from the Chinese government."

Many feel that even the huge revenue that Apple gets in Chinese sales is not worth the compromises that the company has to make in its values, but the problem is, of course, greatly complicated by Apple's heavy dependence on China to manufacture its most prominent devices (the iPhone).

Politicians in the United States accused Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, of hypocrisy for expressing his opinion about American policy when he criticized the entry ban imposed by former American President Donald Trump on 7 Muslim-majority peoples in 2017, his silence about Chinese policy, and his strong commitment With the instructions of its government regarding censorship and not to criticize it because of its policy that affects Muslims.

As for the Chinese government, it has not yet clarified the reason for its request to stop the “Majed Qur’an” application from the Apple Store in the country.