Yahoo's Turn To Say Goodbye From China, Starting This Month Users Can't Access The Service!

Yahoo has officially withdrawn from China. (photo: yahoo)

JAKARTA - China's new regulations are now harassing a company from the United States (US), Yahoo, which is reported to have withdrawn from the country.

Yahoo's decision was not long after LinkedIn and Fortnite decided to leave China. This is known to be due to Beijing's tightening control over the internet industry.

"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 starting November 1," Yahoo said.

The shutdown of Yahoo's services coincides with the implementation of a new data protection law in China, which took effect yesterday. The law, which was in the making for years, is claimed to be similar to Europe's strict GDPR.

Citing The Guardian, Wednesday, October 3, the law restricts companies from collecting personal information and establishes rules on how it can be used. Chinese law also stipulates that companies operating in the country must submit data if requested by the authorities.

This demand certainly makes it difficult for international companies to operate in China as they may face pressure at home to give in to Beijing's demands.

But the closure of this service is not sudden, Yahoo users in China have been notified in advance that the company's services are no longer accessible. Products affected include Aol.com and news outlets such as TechCrunch. Users of apps like Yahoo Weather were also notified in October that the service would be discontinued this month.

As regulations against foreign technology companies have become more stringent and domestic competition has grown in recent years, Yahoo has begun to reduce its operations in China. In 2015, he closed his Beijing office.

Yahoo entered China in 1998 and in 2012 struck a deal with Alibaba Group to sell its stake in the e-commerce giant. The deal also gives Alibaba the right to operate Yahoo China under the Yahoo brand for up to four years.

For information, Yahoo actually has a strong controversy. In 2007, the company was criticized by lawmakers in the US after submitting data on two Chinese dissidents to authorities, which ultimately led to them being jailed.

Instead, China is creating an alternative internet with its own digital giant. Search engine Baidu has largely replaced Yahoo and Google in China, and WeChat and Weibo are the leading social media platforms there.