China’s internet firewall that blocks, restricts, and censors foreign website platforms appears to have now lifted its shield against Bing, the search engine owned by Microsoft.
In a statement released to Western media houses, Microsoft acknowledged that Bing was inaccessible in China, but did not state the reasons why.
“We’ve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps,” Microsoft said.
Bing was one of the major foreign search engines still allowed within China’s so called internet firewall, albeit under restrictions and with censorship on certain topics in accordance with the government’s policy.
According to BBC, one of its correspondents in China attempted to visit Bing, and was able to access it through a Chinese internet provider on a desktop, but not on a smartphone.
The internet firewall arrangement has seen Bing’s rival Google pull out of offering its services in China in 2010.
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Cracking down on dissent on social media has seen President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party enhance internet control.
Other foreign internet firms which seek to tap on the Chinese market are also similarly met with restrictions.
Facebook and Twitter for example are also banned in China.
Twitter however still maintains an office in the country, to allow locals to advertise their businesses abroad, BBC reported.
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