Microsoft to Shut Down LinkedIn in China Amid Censorship Criticism

The ticker symbol and trading information for LinkedIn Corp. is displayed on a screen at the post where it's traded, before the start of trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on June 13, 2016. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Microsoft is abandoning its local version of LinkedIn in China, a move that would close off the last major U.S.-owned networking platform remaining in the country.

In 2014, LinkedIn entered mainland China, a country known for its highly restrictive censorship practices set by the Chinese Communist Party. The platform now boasts about 53 million local users, or roughly 7 percent of its global total.