Eyck Freymann

LinkedIn
Restricted

LinkedIn hides account of Oxford Doctoral student studying Chinese politics who covers Chinese news and related issues: The Wall Street Journal reported that LinkedIn censored certain users' content in China, including content produced by Eyck Freymann, an Oxford doctoral student conducting research on Chinese Politics. He tweeted a screenshot of an email he recieved from the platform that read "due to the presence of prohibited content located in the Publications section of your LinkedIn profile, your profile and your public activity such as your comments and items you share with your network, will not be made viewable in China." The platform further explained, saying: "[w]hile we strongly support freedom of expression, we recognized when we launched that we would need to adhere to the requirements of the Chinese government in order to operate in China." Freymann explained his dismay in a Twitter thread, saying "I use LinkedIn to share my published work and keep in touch with professional contacts back in China." He also criticized the platform's decision to censor academic research. "No topic should be off-limits to scholars because it is inconvenient or embarrassing to someone in power," he said. "Censored research—including self-censored research—is not research at all. It is propaganda." LinkedIn gave no indication of specific content that prompted the restrictions on his account.

Click to englarge evidence