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LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) expanded into China this year, adopting policies in line with the countrys censorship rules. Now the worlds largest professional social-networking company is saying it may have gone too far.

When a LinkedIn user in China shares a post deemed to be in conflict with the governments rules, the company blocks the content not only in China but around the world. While LinkedIns goal is to protect members against how their content might be shared and noticed by the government, the practice may end up stifling Chinese users seeking to spread messages outside their country.

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 Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn, said yesterday.

LinkedIns dilemma underscores the difficulty of doing business in a country with stringent censorship rules where few other U.S. technology companies have succeeded. Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Facebook Inc. (FB) social-networking services are blocked in China, though Facebook is slowly expanding its advertising business there after signing a lease in central Beijing, people familiar with the matter have said.

Jeff Weiner, Chief Executive Officer of LinkedIn Corp., said in a blog post that LinkedIn supports freedom of expression and fundamentally disagrees with government censorship. Close

Jeff Weiner, Chief Executive Officer of LinkedIn Corp., said in a blog post that... Read More

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Jeff Weiner, Chief Executive Officer of LinkedIn Corp., said in a blog post that LinkedIn supports freedom of expression and fundamentally disagrees with government censorship.

Every company wanting to operate in China has to look within themselves and ask how do you serve your users ideally, whether thats by staying in China and operating by the rules or leaving the country, said Jason Ng, a New York-based author of Blocked on Weibo, a book on Chinese social media.

Other social-media companies have struggled with certain countries seeking to block content on their sites, and sometimes the entire site. Twitter was blocked earlier this year in Turkey in response to leaks targeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans government amid a corruption probe. Twitter also has been blocked at times in North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt. For most countries, Twitters policy is to remove content only in the country where it is illegal.

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LinkedIn Reviewing China Censorship Policy