The early internet search engine founded in 1994, then began work with China in 1999, has shut its services down in the mainland of China as of Nov 1, 2021.

In 2013, the company ended its Chinese mail service, but only now took the full effect of shutting all services down. A spokesperson for the company stated that the reason was “the increasingly challenging legal environment.” The spokesperson added that Yahoo “remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet.”

This means that not only the search engine is unavailable, but so is emailing through Yahoo to China residents. Yahoo is only one of many companies shutting down its services in China due to the extremely strict regulations and censorship laws in the country.

Thunder Ridge Father Roy Carlon spoke on the matter, saying, “I’ve used Yahoo for a really long time, probably since it was first made and I still use it. I’m not surprised they stopped services in China. The Chinese government is really strict, having to write news and just talk in general must be really hard.”

Carlon continued, “I think the Chinese have their own websites to use though. Like their own Facebook and whatever. I don’t really think having Yahoo shut down will change much.”

What he did say about the Chinese having their own social media is true. Their replacement for Facebook is called Renren. The Chinese government does not seem to be affected by this change as of yet.