Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Thursday sent a letter to LinkedIn and its parent company, Microsoft, asking why LinkedIn complied with requests from the communist Chinese government to censor profiles from American journalists, Axios reports.
LinkedIn notified several journalists this week that the action had been taken and that their profiles would not be viewable in China.
Those notified included Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian of Axios, Melissa Chan of VICE News and freelance reporter Greg Bruno. All three journalists have reported on human rights abuses in China, according to Axios.
“I am deeply concerned that an American company is actively censoring American journalists on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party,” Scott said in the letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.
“Members of the media report information that is critical to helping Americans, including members of Congress, understand the scope of Communist China’s abuses, especially its abuses against and surveillance of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.”
Scott said the the censorship of the journalists “raises serious questions about Microsoft’s intentions and its commitment to standing up against Communist China’s horrific human rights abuses and repeated attacks against democracy.”
LinkedIn is among only a few U.S. companies that have agreed to the Chinese government’s demand to censor such content. LinkedIn has also censored content from academics, researchers and government employees at China’s request.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., sent a similar letter to LinkedIn last week.
