Facebook reportedly builds censorship tool to re-enter China

Facebookhas quietly developeda censorship tool that could persuade China to allow the world'sbiggest social media network to re-enter the world's secondlargest economy after a seven-year ban, the New York Timesreported on Tuesday.

Facebook developed the software, which suppresses posts from appearing in people's news feeds in specific geographies, with the support of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, the newspaper said, citing unnamed current and former employees.

Zuckerberg in March met China's propaganda chief Liu Yunshanwho said he hoped Facebook could strengthen exchanges andimprove mutual understanding with China's internet companies,according to state news agency Xinhua.

"We have long said that we are interested in China, and arespending time understanding and learning more about thecountry," Facebook spokeswoman Arielle Aryah said in an emailedstatement to Reuters.

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"However, we have not made any decision on our approach toChina. Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses anddevelopers expand to new markets outside China by using our adplatform."

The Cybersecurity Administration of China, the country'sinternet regulator, did not immediately respond to a faxedrequest for comment. China's foreign ministry declined tocomment.

'Anti-China forces'

Foreign companies in China, especially in media, facepolitical pressure from a range of regulations. The country'smilitary newspaper calls the internet the most important frontin an ideological battle against "Western anti-China forces."

China, which has the world's largest population of internetusers, banned the website following the Urumqi riots in July2009 in an effort to stem the flow of information about ethnicunrest which left 140 people dead.

Though Facebook has developed the new tool, it does notintend to suppress the posts itself, NYT said.

Facebook would instead offer the software to enable a thirdparty to monitor popular stories and topics that gain visibilityas users share them across the network, according to the Times.The third party partner would have full control to decidewhether those posts should show up in users' feeds.

There is no indication Facebook has offered the software tothe authorities in China, the Times said. It is one of manyideas Facebook has discussed with respect to entering China andit may never see the light of day, it added.

Facebook, which has struggled in recent months to combatallegations that it unfairly removes certain content on itsservice, aims to continue to grow in developing nations where itcurrently has smaller penetration rates.

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