‘Adhering to Beijing regulations’, LinkedIn suspends new signups in China

LinkedIn, an American platform for job seekers and employers, recently said that it has suspended new-sign ups in China. It is one of the few social media networks available in the country. This comes days after the cyberattack suffered by LinkedIn’s parent company Microsoft. But, a company spokesperson has clarified that the suspension has nothing to do with the cyberattack. 

Also Read: Microsoft says state-sponsored hackers from China exploiting security loopholes to steal users’ data

In a statement, LinkedIn said they are suspending new sign-ups “as we work to ensure we remain in compliance with local law.”  

“We’re a global platform with an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations for our localised version of LinkedIn in China,” said the statement. They declined to elaborate on which Chinese laws the statement is referring to, reported CNN. 

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A group named Hafnium exploited Microsoft’s exchange email service and gained access to the computers. According to Microsoft, the group was “assessed to be state-sponsored and operating out of China.” 

Approximately 250,000 customers were affected by the attack. The White House has said that it perceives the breach as an “active attack”. Responding to the accusations, China has said that the direct linkage of such attacks to the government is a “highly sensitive political issue” that shouldn’t be based on “unprovoked guesses.”

The Global Times, a state-owned media house said in a report earlier this week, citing “Chinese experts” that the new Biden administration is trying to “poison relations between the two countries” after the US government said it wants to form a task force to deal with the cyberattack.  

LinkedIn was made available in China in 2014 while Microsoft has been long available since 1992. Google, Facebook and Twitter are all banned in the country.