“We’re not yet certain whether it’s confined to Bing or if it’s something that is broader,” Microsoft (MSFT) president Brad Smith said in Davos.
Bing is the last major foreign search engine operating in China after Google (GOOGL) pulled out in 2010.
“It’s not the first time that we’ve encountered issues like this for Bing in China, these do arise periodically,” Smith said in response to a question from CNN Business.
Chinese users first noticed problems late Wednesday, when the phrase “Can’t access Bing” started popping up on social media.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Bing was blocked. China’s internet regulator didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Cyberspace Administration of China announced Wednesday that it had closed 733 websites and shut down 9,382 apps in a crackdown on “harmful” information.
“We’re not aware of any ongoing negotiation or disagreement so we’re working to understand it better,” said Smith.
cnn
