Professional networking site LinkedIn said its service had been blocked in parts of China, after the launch of an online campaign for Middle East-style rallies that has triggered official unease.
“We can confirm that access to LinkedIn is being blocked for some in China. This appears to be part of a broader effort in China going on right now, involving other sites as well,” company spokesman Hani Durzy told AFP.
Many LinkedIn groups were set up to discuss on the pro-democracy protests currently spreading through the Middle East. The messages could have spread too widely via LinkedIn and caught the attention of Chinese netizens. With Facebook and Twitter both banned in China, LinkedIn is naturally the next best platform for Chinese to participate in such discussions.
“I am almost certain that it (LinkedIn) was blocked because there were so many messages related to the calls for Jasmine protests,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of the Beijing-based China media website danwei.org, which also is blocked by censors.
Just-ping.com reflected that LinkedIn is unavailable in Shanghai and Beijing. The block is an ongoing censorship effort by the Chinese government to prevent the similar uproar within the country. Facebook and Twitter were also banned due to anti-government or censored messages spreading within the network. It is likely that LinkedIn would suffer the same fate too.
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