Bing censors mentions of Xi Jinping more than Chinese competitors

A recent study by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab revealed that Microsoft's Bing censors mentions of Chinese President Xi Jinping more extensively in China than local competitors like Baidu Translate and Tencent Machine Translation. The research highlighted that even a reference to Xi Jinping triggers a complete block of translation results on Bing, while Chinese services would only censor specific sentences. Microsoft's heavy censorship practices in China have drawn attention from U.S. lawmakers, with concerns raised about compliance with Beijing's demands. Despite Microsoft's long-standing presence in China, Bing's censorship surpasses that of major Chinese tech firms, impacting communication and expression. The study compared Bing with translation services from Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and NetEase, showing Bing consistently producing blank outputs. Microsoft's cautious approach to censorship is seen as a strategy to avoid backlash from the Chinese government. The findings underscore the differences in censorship approaches between U.S. and Chinese tech companies, with Microsoft facing scrutiny for overcensoring compared to its Chinese counterparts.