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LinkedIn can woo the censors to connect with China

LinkedIn is facing a familiar conundrum for internet firms in China. Shut up and please the censors, or give up and go home? The story usually ends with a retreat. But the job-focused social network may be able to stick it out.

Earlier this year, LinkedIn imposed robust controls on its Chinese site over content that might fall foul of censors. Posts by users in China mentioning sensitive topics could be blocked both inside and outside the People's Republic. Meanwhile, users from other countries who sounded off on subjects like the Dalai Lama or the wealth of Chinese leaders would find some views were not visible to users in China. In the wake of complaints, LinkedIn is tweaking its approach. As of this week, posts by Chinese users will be visible to overseas users even if they are blocked at home, the company says.

Yet LinkedIn has little real motivation to resist the censors. Its core content - references, grainy mugshots and endorsements - looks harmless to even the most paranoid bureaucrat. Most users don't seem to feel the effects of censorship enough to stop using the service. That's a big difference compared with the likes of Google, which pulled out of China because certain search terms were being blocked. Connecting with China looks worthwhile. LinkedIn already has more than 5 million users in China and estimates its potential membership could be as large as 144 million, an arresting number given the network currently has 300 million users worldwide. Local competition looks vulnerable. Market leader Tianji has around four times as many local members, but lacks the international connections to lure more ambitious professionals.

A reputation for overenthusiastic self-censorship could undercut LinkedIn's efforts to establish itself as a publishing platform. Investors aren't worried, though: shares in the company have risen more than nine per cent since the Chinese site's launch. But even if LinkedIn's approach pays off, it's unlikely to set a precedent. Many foreign web companies find Chinese censorship is incompatible with their services. And the censors themselves are unlikely to slack off any time soon. As the director of China's State Internet Information Office explained on Sept. 10, the internet is like a car, and "all cars must have brakes".