This article gives insight into a growing topic of censorship of the internet. The growth of the digital world makes the internet one of the most important tools in business. I has the power to amplify a brand almost instantaneously. The global market is dependant on the access to a company through the worldwide web. as the internet grows privacy continues to come up as a topic of conversation and policy change. The laws and regulations of the internet vary country by country. Often dicated by political power, the laws country’s enact on their internet use has effects to not only the citizens of their country but also business that want occurs there by international companies.

The AP News article by Zen Soo “Yahoo pulls out of China, citing ‘challenging’ environment,” discusses how the changing laws in China have lead to a change in the way that Yahoo has operated in China for years now. The new policy changes and continuing political pressures have led to Yahoo making the decision to leave the Chinese market all together due to a “challenging environment.”

This a huge decision on Yahoo’s part as China is a crucial part of an international business economy. Yahoo, being a leader in the industry, has scaled back its operations in China slowly throughout the years. This decision to pull out completely could change the demographics of Yahoo’s audience.

Thinking about this through a public relations lens, it can alter how Yahoo approaches messaging within the eastern market. The everchanging policy of the freedom of the internet is a tricky relm to stay ontop of as it is constantly changing due to the changes happening politically is various regions around the world.

One thing that I wonder is how Yahoo plans to shift it’s business model to accommodate for the shift in the global market. I wonder how Yahoo will make up for the loss of the Chinese audience in the East.  The main obstacle that Yahoo has faced in China is the government requirement for them to censor content and keywords deemed politically sensitive or inappropriate. As an internet company it becomes really difficult to balance freedom of speech with what a country deems inappropriate.