Yahoo has completely ceased its operations in China now that web services company has ended support for its email service (opens in new tab) in the country.
In a recent email sent out to customers, the company explained that it would soon close Yahoo Mail (opens in new tab) in China while advising them to switch to an alternative email service as soon as possible. Yahoo also recommended that users download their contacts, schedules and other important data before its email service closed for good in the country.
In an FAQ (opens in new tab) page on its site, Yahoo explained why it decided to end support for Yahoo Mail in China citing the country's new privacy regulations as the main reason, saying:
“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, including new privacy regulations, Yahoo services will no longer be accessible from mainland China. In all other regions, Yahoo features will continue to function as expected and there will be no changes to Yahoo Mail account, emails, photos or other inbox content for users globally.”
Leaving China
With the shuttering of Yahoo Mail, the company is now no longer operating at any capacity in China. This is because it ended support for its other services in the country back in November of last year at the same time China's Personal Information Protection Law (opens in new tab) (PIPL) came into effect.
Under PIPL, global businesses are required to regulate the storage and privacy of their data in a way that meets the demands of the Chinese government. However, the new law is both precise and vague at the same time which has made operating in the country much more difficult for global businesses.
> Microsoft shuts down LinkedIn in China (opens in new tab)
> China blocks Signal - here's what you need to know (opens in new tab)
> China now has over a billion citizens connected to the internet (opens in new tab)
While Yahoo's search engine (opens in new tab) hasn't been available in China for years, the company closed its original email service back in 2013. The year before though, Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba bought a 20 percent stake (opens in new tab) in the firm and was responsible for managing the Chinese mail migration while still using the Yahoo brand under a tech and IP cross-licensing deal.
Yahoo isn't the only big company leaving the country though as Microsoft shut down LinkedIn in China (opens in new tab) back in October citing similar reasons.
- We've also highlighted the best VPN (opens in new tab), best email clients (opens in new tab) and the best email hosting (opens in new tab)
Via The Register (opens in new tab)
