Facebook FB -0.49% has built software that can censor posts on the social network’s news feed based on users’ geographic location, one piece of a larger effort to explore ways to expand the social network’s reach in China, according to a report in The New York Times on Tuesday.
China, with a population of 1.4 billion, represents a massive potential market for Facebook. The social network has been blocked in China since 2009. Outside of Hong Kong, Chinese residents must use a virtual private network, or VPN to access the site. Citing unnamed current and former employees, the New York Times report said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has supported the project, but that the tool has not been used and that there is no indication that Facebook has offered the tool to authorities in China. A Facebook spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment in time for publication.
There are already countries such as Russia and Pakistan where Facebook and other large U.S. internet companies remove specific content after it is shared, following government orders. According to Tuesday’s report, this technology is different and can proactively block content from showing up in news feeds to begin with. According to the report, Facebook does not intend to block posts itself, but could make the software available to a third party. Efforts on the project have grown this year, and were at least one point led by Vaughn Smith, a vice president for mobile, corporate and business development at Facebook, according to the report. The software gained internal interest at Facebook and was a topic at one of the company’s weekly Friday afternoon question-and-answer sessions, the report said.
Zuckerberg has been working to build Facebook’s relationship with China over time, making visits to the country, meeting President Xi Jinping and learning Mandarin. Facebook and Chinese officials have had sporadic talks about the social network operating in the country, the report said.
Facebook does have a Hong Kong office, where some employees sells advertising for Chinese businesses. Partnering with a local company or investor could also make it easier for Facebook to operate in the rest of the country. However, moves by Facebook to censor the social network in China would likely complicate the company’s relationships with other governments that practice censorship.
[Source:-Forbes]
