Microsoft’s Bing search engine continues to be available in China, but the auto-suggest feature has been suspended.
As Reuters reports, the lack of auto-suggest when typing search terms into Bing was first noticed by users in China. Microsoft has since confirmed that a “relevant government agency” demanded the suspension, but no explanation has been forthcoming as to why it was triggered.
Bing states on its Chinese search site that, “Bing is a global search platform and remains committed to respecting the rule of law and users’ right to access information.” It seems likely auto-suggest broke one of the rules and this suspension is penance. If Microsoft can convince the government agency the problem has been solved, auto-suggest will likely return pretty swiftly.
It’s unlikely we’ll find out exactly what Bing did wrong, but Microsoft won’t be surprised by the suspension. Bing has broken the rules before, with the entire search service being blocked briefly back in 2019.
China’s internet is one of the most restricted in the world when it comes to accessing information freely. There are ways around the restrictions, such as using a VPN specifically geared towards serving Chinese users, but they don’t come without their own issues and risks.
