According to a report from Reuters, Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, has been asked to suspend the auto-suggest feature in the nation of China. With the feature to be shut down for seven days, Microsoft says the move comes because a “relevant government agency” has required it to do so.
Official details on this matter are naturally scarce, and Bing did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Folks in China using Bing, which is the only western search engine allowed in the nation, first noticed that the feature was turned off back on Saturday. A translated message on the issue also indicates that this was for “respecting the rule of law and users’ right to access information.”
Though this might seem strange for people outside of China, Reuters notes that turning off auto-suggest might have a lot to do with a “crackdown on technology platforms and algorithms from Beijing.” This is the second time since December that China has asked Bing to suspend the auto-suggest feature.
