SHANGHAI—Microsoft Corp.’s Bing, the only major foreign search engine available in China, said a “relevant government agency” has required it to suspend its auto-suggest function in China for seven days.
The suspension marks the second of its kind for Bing since December, and arrives amid an ongoing crackdown on technology platforms and algorithms from Beijing.
Chinese internet users first spotted the suspension on Saturday.
Bing did not specify a reason for the suspension. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft shut down its local version of LinkedIn in China last October, citing “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”
Internet companies in China have been hit over the past year by a regulatory crackdown that has imposed fresh curbs on areas from content to customer privacy.
In August, Beijing’s top cyber regulator published draft rules dictating how internet platforms can and cannot make use of algorithms.
A finalized version of the rules came into effect this month.
