More American companies are bowing to Communist China’s demands for greater censorship. Now Microsoft Corporation’s Bing, the only major foreign search engine available in China, has stopped its auto-suggest function in China for 30 days to comply with Chinese censors.
The move by Microsoft is dangerous, say freedom of information groups, and is another example of profit over the free flow of information.
“Bing is a global search platform and remains committed to respecting the rule of law and users’ right to access information,” Bing said on its Chinese search site on Friday. It did not specify reasons for the suspension.
Internet companies in China have been hit over the past year by a regulatory clampdown that has imposed fresh curbs on areas from content to customer privacy. The Chinese government has also said it wants platforms to more actively promote core socialist values.
In October, Microsoft said it would shut down its professional social networking platform LinkedIn in China, citing “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements” in the country.
In 2021, Apple banned a popular Bible app from being downloaded in China.
–Wire services