A year after it was removed from the country's app stores, the language learning app is back in China.
The Pittsburg-based app was unavailable for download in China in August of last year due to the country's sweeping education cracking down. The company told local media that they received instructions to strengthen the app. The app came to China.
In the last few years, China has been closing regulatory loopholes. In order to maintain a healthy digital environment, strict content moderation is required of services that have a lot of data.
As Beijing introduced new strict data laws that led to rising compliance costs, a number of foreign tech companies decided to shut down their products in China.
Yahoo pulled its services from China last year. The running app will be replaced by a solution for China.
People who still see China as a potentially lucrative market will likely stay, but will work to meet the country's changing internet policies. The global version of their services won't be compatible with China's new regulatory environment.
The service that Duolingo offers in China is tailored to the country. According to its official social media post this week, the app is free to use, teaches 41 languages and comes with gaming features. Cantonese, the language spoken by people in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as a significant population of the affluent Chinese province of Guangdong, will be taught.
The long haul of Microsoft’s China localization
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