Microsoft Corp’s Bing search mechanism has been blocked in China, the company said on Wednesday, making it the latest foreign technology service to be shut down behind the realm’s Great Firewall.
“We’ve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps,” the firm said in a statement.
It is the U.S. technology giant’s second setback in China since November 2017 when its Skype internet phone shout and messaging service was pulled from Apple and Android app stores.
A search performed on Bing’s China website – cn.bing.com – from within mainland China opens the user to a page that says the server cannot be reached.
The Financial Times, citing a source, reported on Wednesday that China Unicom, a biggest state-owned telecommunication company, had confirmed the government order to block the search engine. https://on.ft.com/2HrhwMM
Cyberspace Delivery of China (CAC), a government watchdog, did not respond to faxed questions about Bing’s blocked website.
Bing was the only larger foreign search engine accessible from within China’s so-called Great Firewall. Microsoft censored search follow-ups on sensitive topics, in accordance with government policy.
Microsoft also has a partnership with Chinese data center provider 21Vianet to offer its offerings Azure and Office 365 to clients in the country.
Alphabet’s Google search platform has been blocked in China since 2010. Google CEO Sundar Pichai suggested in December it has “no plans” to relaunch a search engine in China though it is continuing to study the idea amid increased inquiry of big tech firms.
President Xi Jinping has accelerated control of the internet in China since 2016, as the ruling Communist Aid seeks to crack down on dissent in the social media landscape.
In a statement on Wednesday, CAC said it had deleted more than 7 million compositions of online information and 9,382 mobile apps. It also criticized technology company Tencent’s news app for spreading “obscene information.” (Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai and Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Cate Cadell and Stephen Nellis; Blip by Sandra Maler, Grant McCool and Darren Schuettler)