Yahoo said Tuesday said it plans to pull out of China, citing an “increasingly challenging business and legal environment.”
The company said in a statement that its services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of Nov. 1.
“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1,” the statement read.
It added that Yahoo “remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet.”
The company’s withdrawal will coincide with China’s Personal Information Protection Law coming into effect on Nov. 1, which curbs what information companies can gather and sets standards for how it must be stored.
Yahoo had previously downsized operations in China, and in 2015 shuttered its Beijing office. Its withdrawal from the country is largely symbolic as at least some of Yahoo’s services, including its web portal, have already been blocked.
Chinese authorities maintain a firm grip on Internet censorship in the country, and require companies operating in China to censor content and keywords deemed politically sensitive or inappropriate.
China has also blocked most international social media sites and search engines, such as Facebook and Google. Users in China who wish to access these services circumvent the block by using a virtual private network (VPN).
Yahoo also previously operated a music and email service in China, but both services were also stopped in the early 2010s.
Yahoo is the second large U.S. technology firm in recent weeks to reduce its operations in China. Last month, Microsoft’s professional networking platform LinkedIn said it would shutter its Chinese site, replacing it with a jobs board instead.
FAQs
HONG KONG (AP) — Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it has pulled out of China, citing an increasingly challenging operating environment. The withdrawal was largely symbolic, as many of the company's services were already blocked by China's digital censorship.
Is Yahoo email blocked in China? ›
Yahoo previously announced that from November 1, 2021, users will not be able to use Yahoo's products and services from mainland China. However, the company still retains a small number of services such as mailboxes.
When was Yahoo banned in China? ›
After February 28th, 2022 you will no longer be able to send or receive new emails from mainland China.
Does China own Yahoo? ›
In September 2021, investment funds managed by Apollo Global Management acquired 90% of Yahoo. In November 2021, Yahoo announced that it was ending operations in mainland China due to the increasingly challenging business and legal environment.
Why is Google pulling out of China? ›
Google's search engine, which prides itself on offering unfettered access to information, came into conflict with censoring demands made by the government. Google was forced to restrict its search results and remove any content that did not align with the goals of the Chinese government.
Why is Gmail not allowed in China? ›
This is because the Chinese government uses nation-wide firewalls to block access to Gmail. Its system of firewalls is called the Great Firewall, and it restricts access to not just Gmail, but all Google services (including Google docs, Google Maps, Google Translate, and more).
Is Outlook banned in China? ›
Office 365 (including Teams and Stream)
The Office 365 software package including Outlook, Teams, OneDrive for Business and the office applications will work as normal in China but you may experience slow uploads to your OneDrive.
Why do Japanese still use Yahoo? ›
Localized Content Strategy:
Yahoo! Japan's emphasis on creating content tailored to the local audience, from news to entertainment, has made it a preferred choice for many. It's not just a search engine; it's a daily hub for curated content.
Is Zoom banned in China? ›
"Zoom has confirmed that the zoom.us website is now accessible in China in addition to zoom.com. As such, local users in China should now be able to start and join Zoom Meetings and Zoom Video Webinars via the zoom.us website.
Is Bing banned in China? ›
Bing went live in China on June 1, 2009. This was just before the Tiananmen Square 20th anniversary, and the Chinese government, wasting no time demonstrating to Microsoft how aggressive it was willing to be, abruptly blocked access to the search engine.
Yahoo has become the latest US tech company to end its presence in mainland China as tougher regulations are imposed there. The firm said its decision was due to an "increasingly challenging business and legal environment" in the country".
What happened between Yahoo and Alibaba? ›
In May 2007, Alibaba changed the name of the business from Yahoo China to China Yahoo, an apt reflection of who was in charge. But even after it sold its China business to Alibaba, Yahoo's image would be tarnished in the United States by the case of imprisoned Chinese journalist Shi Tao.
What caused the downfall of Yahoo? ›
Yahoo! faced an unimaginable downfall due to a series of strategic blunders and missed opportunities. Their failure to adapt to changing trends and technology advancements resulted in the company losing ground to emerging competitors such as Google and Facebook.
Why is Yahoo defaulting to Brazil? ›
Cause. The redirect is happening because Yahoo does their own DNS geolocations to determine IP location. When we get new IP address ranges, some are still registered in other countries.
