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LinkedIns censorship practices in China were brought into the open Monday after a Shanghai-based journalist released an email from the company notifying him that one of his articles would be blocked in the Communist state.

The June email to Rob Schmitz, a reporter for Marketplace, a public-radio program distributed by American Public Media,showed how LinkedIn is deciding what to censor based on guidelines handed down by Chinese officials.

The email revealed another little-known LinkedIn policy: Content prohibited in China that is posted from within China is censored everywhere in the world not just in China.

A LinkedIn spokesman said the policy was designed to protect people in China from retribution from government officials, who might notice the content outside China.

The spokesman said LinkedIn is considering changing the policy, which has been criticized by human-rights groups.

The incident highlights the challenges for social networks in the worlds most populous country, where media are strictly controlled. Facebook does not offer its main service in China, and maintains only a small ad-sales office there.

When LinkedIn launched its China site in February, CEO Jeff Weiner said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that some content might be censored, and that he wasnt sure how the censorship would work.

We are strongly in support of freedom of expression and we are opposed to censorship but recognize that in order to obtain a license [in China], there will be requests to filter content and thats going to be necessary for us to achieve the kind of scale that wed like, he said at the time.

The LinkedIn spokesman said the company did not receive a request from China to censor content until June, more than three months after it launched there. The request, which listed several specific areas LinkedIn was instructed to ban from its site in China, coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Chinas bloody suppression of protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The LinkedIn spokesman would not specify the taboo subjects.

According to Schmitz, LinkedIn in June blocked an article he posted to the network about the anniversary. He said LinkedIn also blocked another article, by a journalist for The Australian, about Guo Jian, a Tiananmen Square protester and artist detained by Chinese officials shortly before the anniversary.

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LinkedIn Considers Changes After China Censorship Revealed

LinkedIn is thinking twice about its adoption of China's aggressive censorship. Photo: Reuters

Beijing: After complaints and clear examples of bowing to Chinese censorship diktats, LinkedIn says it may have acted too hastily in friending China's government.

LinkedIn executives said they were reconsidering their policies, after seven months of censoring content from China deemed too sensitive.

"We do want to get this right, and we are strongly considering changing our policy so that content from our Chinese members that is not allowed in China will still be viewed globally," Hani Durzy, a spokesman for the California-based companysaid.

The professional social networking site is the latest to wrestle with the moral quandaries that come with doing business in China amid the government's paranoia about the internet. Facebook, Twitter and Google are largely blocked here.

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LinkedIn, however, thought it could make it work. In February, the company launched its Chinese-language website and set up operations in China. In return, it promised to follow Chinese government rules and started self-censoring content.

But Mr Durzy insisted back then that the company would do so only when "legally required."

Then, in June, came the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The anniversary, a perennial headache for web users in China, is marked by a clampdown on search terms, internet speeds and intense government scrutiny.

LinkedIn users reported posts about Tiananmen being blocked even in Hong Kong, which lies outsides China's censorship firewall. LinkedIn said at the time that it was an accident. And it said that although such content was self-censored in China, it would remain "accessible elsewhere in the world".

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LinkedIn rethinks support of China's censorship

Unfold a 1944 map of San Diego County by the Automobile Club of Southern California and look for Lindbergh Field, the port, Point Lomas Naval Training Center or Marine Corps Depot. You wont find them. Nor can you locate Fort Rosecrans, Camp Kearny, Navy Hospital and the Ship Repair Base, Camp Pendleton, or the 29 other military installations in the region nicknamed Defense City No. 1 during World War II.

Now, unfold a second 1944 map of San Diego County by the Auto Club. It has the same cover and legend box as the first, but every airfield, military base and pier is clearly marked and indexed.

Youve stumbled across a little-known relic of World War II on the American home front. In an era when Google Earth and GPS offer instant mapping worldwide, the idea of map censorship in the United States comes off as ludicrous. Yet, 72 years ago, following the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, map masking as the practice was called became official wartime doctrine for road maps and others issued in the U.S. for non-military use.

Under a voluntary code distributed by the Office of Censorship in early 1942, map-makers along with journalists and other purveyors of information were asked to remove details that would disclose locations of ammunition dumps or other restricted Army or Navy areas along with the locations of forts and other fortifications. The code was self-policing: media were to ask themselves, Is this information that I would like to have if I were the enemy? and act accordingly, says historian Michael Sweeney, whose book Secrets of Victory examines the bureau.

For the Auto Club, which worked closely with West Coast defense authorities to craft maps for the military, its cartographers were often able to print two sets of maps: fully detailed renderings of the state, counties, and cities for the armed forces; and censored editions for civilians thus the contrasting 1944 San Diego County versions.

For other map-makers, especially those producing consumer maps for gasoline brands to distribute, masking proved inconsistent, quirky, and even darkly humorous.

Most U.S. oil company road maps were drawn by H.M. Gousha of Chicago/San Jose, by Rand McNally of Chicago, or by General Drafting of New York. These often colorful maps had exploded in popularity during the 1930s with the growth in motoring. Americas December 1941 entry into the war, however, generated wartime paper shortages, gasoline rationing, and a crimped market for tourism. The companies nevertheless issued 1942 maps for most states and cities, as they had already begun production, but not until 1946 did updated maps again appear broadly. (Maps from 1942 were occasionally reprinted during later war years.)

So, while the Auto Club could derive ongoing civilian issues from its military versions, the major map companies had to choose what to eliminate on each of their prewar issues within a one-time span of a few months. Depending on the cartographer, their wartime maps of the same area differed as to which, if any, airfields, ports, dams, oil fields, military bases, and related facilities disappeared. Even among maps drawn by the same company, the level of masking varied based on the gas-brand label.

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Censorship can be a quirky business.

An image from LinkedIn's Chinese-language Web site.

After complaints and clear examples of bowing to Chinese censorship diktats, LinkedIn says it may have acted too hastily in friending Chinas government.

LinkedIn executives said Tuesday that they are reconsidering their policies, after seven months of censoring content from China deemed too sensitive.

"We do want to get this right, and we are strongly considering changing our policy so that content from our Chinese members that is not allowed in China will still be viewed globally, Hani Durzy, a spokesman for the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, told Bloomberg.

The professional social networking site is just the latest to wrestle with the moral quandaries that come with doing business in China amid the government's paranoia about the Internet. Facebook, Twitter and Google are largely blocked here.

LinkedIn, however, thought it could make it work. In February, the company launched its Chinese-language Web site and set up operations in China. In return, it promised to follow Chinese government rules and started self-censoring content.

But spokesman Durzy insisted back then that the company would do so only when legally required.

Then, in June, came the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The anniversary, a perennial headache for Web users in China, is marked by a clampdown on search terms, Internet speeds and intense government scrutiny.

LinkedIn users reported posts about Tiananmen being blocked even in Hong Kong, which lies outsides Chinas censorship firewall. LinkedIn said at the time that it was an accident.And it said that although such content was self-censored in China, it would remain accessible elsewhere in the world.

But some users said that wasnt true.

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WorldViews: LinkedIn thinking twice about its adoption of Chinas aggressive censorship

LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD: Quote) is reviewing its censorship policy in China so that content from its Chinese members that is not allowed in the Communist nation can be viewed globally, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

LinkedIn, the world's largest online professional social networking company, had expanded into China this year and adopted policies in line with that country's censorship rules. However, the company is now said to be strongly considering changing its censorship policy, according to the Bloomberg report.

The company is said to be informing people when content deemed inappropriate by the Chinese government is blocked. If a LinkedIn user in China shares a post that is in conflict with the Chinese government's rules, the content is blocked not only in China, but around the world, Bloomberg reported.

However, LinkedIn is said to be worried that the practice may end up preventing Chinese users who want to spread their messages outside their country. LinkedIn rolled out its Chinese website in February this year after earlier having only an English-language site there for more than a decade.

Other social-media companies too have struggled in China. Facebook Inc. (FB) remains banned in China, but was reportedly considering opening of a sales office to work with local advertisers there.

Facebook may open an office in the world's second-largest economy within a year to cater to the growing customer base there.

China is one among the relatively untapped markets for Facebook, whose social-networking service was banned by the Chinese government in 2009. The company uses an office in Hong Kong, and sells ads to Chinese customers who want to reach global audiences.

LNKD closed Tuesday's trading at $225.00, down $0.75 or 0.33 percent on a volume of 1.60 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $0.10 or 0.04 percent to $225.10.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

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Bloomberg: LinkedIn Reviewing Censorship Policy In China