Microsoft is attracting growing criticism for censoring Bing in China

A second US Senator has attacked Microsoft Corp.’s operations in China, adding to a wave of criticism from human rights groups following a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation about the way it censors its Bing search engine in the country. A Microsoft spokesperson reiterated an earlier statement that the Chinese version of Bing is “the least censored search engine” in the country and that leaving the market there “would only serve to cut people off from information they otherwise have through Bing.” “We only censor a result in response to a narrow legal order that we conclude obligates us to do so,” the spokesperson said, “and we regularly push back when we believe an order doesn’t comply with proper interpretation of Chinese rules.” Rubio’s comments reflect bipartisan unease about US corporations’ relationship with the Chinese government amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over a variety of political and economic issues. Maya Wang, interim China director at Human Rights Watch, called on Microsoft to make transparent its content removal policies following Chinese government requests and to consider pushing local partners to better protect human rights. Users searching for censored content are notified that “results are removed in response to a notice of local law requirement.” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that China’s internet was “free, open, and orderly.” He added that “foreign-­invested enterprises in China should abide by China’s laws and regulations.” Beijing has previously denied committing abuses in Xinjiang. “Bing should be deeply ashamed of helping the government suppress that reporting,” he said, adding that Microsoft should “lift all censorship and donate the profits from Bing’s China operations to the victims of the coverup.”