Microsoft search engine Bing has been ordered by the Chinese government to suspend its auto-suggest function for seven days in accordance with local laws, according to the local website of the online service.
This comes three months after Bing, the only foreign internet search service available in China, was requested to pause the same feature for 30 days starting mid-December. Around the same time, Microsoft’s professional social network LinkedIn shut down its website in the country, replacing it with a special app without a social feed.
Bing said on its Chinese site that it “remains committed to respect the rule of law and users’ right to access information and to help users find information to the greatest extent feasible under applicable laws”. It did not elaborate on why the function had been paused.
It is unclear when the suspension began, but Bing’s Chinese users started to take notice on Saturday.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for further information on Tuesday.
As Beijing tightens its control over data and online content, mainland China has become increasingly difficult for foreign online services to navigate.
Google, Bing’s biggest global rival, closed its search service in China in 2010 after the company refused to meet government requirements.
China’s Great Firewall has kept most US Internet services – including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter – from reaching Chinese consumers. Yahoo last year stopped all its remaining online services in mainland China, marking its final retreat from the country.
Bing’s latest incident followed the implementation of a new rule this month to rein in the use of algorithms in websites and apps to recommend what consumers would like to read, watch, play and buy online. This kind of technology is widely used by Big Tech firms such as Alibaba Group Holding, social media and video gaming giant Tencent Holdings, and TikTok owner ByteDance. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s Internet watchdog, last week said it would target app algorithms as part of this year’s campaign to clean up “online chaos”.
Bing held a 5.5% share in China’s search engine market in February, according to market researcher StatCounter, far below the nearly 84% share of local giant Baidu. The China market contributed less than 2% to Microsoft’s annual revenue, said company president Brad Smith two years ago. – South China Morning Post
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
