Bing censoring political sensitive figures in China

By Scoop
May 23, 2022 · less than 3 min read

We all hate a namedropper – especially when it’s on behalf of the Chinese government.  

For your eyes only 

Researchers at the University of Toronto think Microsoft-owned Bing is censoring ‘politically sensitive’ names in its Chinese search engine. The Chinese government has no shortage of enemies, but according to the report, the same figures hidden in the Chinese market are also disappearing from view in the US search engine.  

It’s a slightly embarrassing revelation for Microsoft as, while we can understand that Bing is legally required to censor some names in China, there’s really no reason why the same names should still be censored in the US. Microsoft, as you can imagine, has said that the censorship was just a technical error that has now been corrected.  

See no evil 

Technical error or not, the issue of Chinese censorship is becoming a real feature of the modern business and political sphere. From cinema to customer protection, where American and Chinese interests meet in the private sector, things get frosty.  

Only last year, Congress passed a bill to create an interagency task force aimed at battling Chinese censorship efforts in the US, speaking to the growing level of influence the Chinese state seems to be exerting across the world.  

So, if you’re looking up a person or organization that doesn’t have a great relationship with the Chinese government, don’t be surprised if the juicy deets prove a little tough to come by.  

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