Facebook hoping to friend 1.3B Chinese
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, hopes he can make his site a winner in China, according AFP.
In July 2009, the Chinese government blocked the site, ostensibly to prevent Islamic extremist groups in Xinjiang province from using it to plan terrorist acts. Twitter.com, and the local microblogging site Fanfou.com, have also fallen afoul of government censors and are no longer accessible on the mainland. Tech savvy Chinese often get around the restrictions using proxy servers, or some of the closely monitored blogging services.
Zuckerberg said that he would like Facebook to be a major presence in China. He said he's now learning Chinese so he can better understand the culture. He'd like make right with the gatekeepers responsible for China's Great Firewall.
Currently, internet content (as well as text messages) in China is screened against a secret list of sensitive words and phrases. Posts deemed objectionable are deleted.
While Zuckerberg said that Facebook abides with local laws, including one prohibiting anything promoting Naziism in Germany, he didn't say whether Facebook planned to submit its content to the government censors. Instead, he skirted the issue saying each country has its own culture and values. But Zuckerberg should realize that argument proved stale for Google in China years ago.
Do you think Facebook can succeed in China?