Facebook and China are not friends. It has been shut down in the Asian country since 2009. Regardless, this has not discouraged them from getting involved in the country.
How is Facebook getting involved in China? Well, we hear that Facebook launched a photo sharing an app in China named Colorful Balloons in the Chinese iOS App, that behaves almost exactly like the company’s own Moments.
Of course, there’s no connection with Facebook in this case, since the social network is blocked in China by the government.
Colourful Balloons, which was released via a company named Youge Internet Technology, a local Chinese company, will be interfacing with WeChat, the most popular messaging social network in China.
In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: “We are spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways. Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform.”
It’s not certain that China’s regulators were aware of the app, let alone who was behind it, and that could be a problem.
While Facebook has bent over backwards to publicly court China, including multiple visits by Mark Zuckerberg, this is much more secretive. The government might frown at the idea of Facebook going behind its back, even if the app in question abides by local censorship laws.
It’s a calculated attempt that might help Facebook understand the Chinese market, but could also jeopardize what little chance it had of regaining its declining interest in the country.
We are waiting for the reaction of the Chinese government to this launch.
3 Comments
“Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform.” With this quote above, I think China government should allow the Facebook mobile App in their country.
This ain’t good if it’s true. Chinese are very strict people. If their government doesn’t want the App in their country for a reason best known to them, Zuckerberg should try to understand and abide by their regulations, instead of trying to play smart. If this come out eventually and Facebook was found culpable, the founder would forever regret his decision to play on the Chinese’ intelligence.
This ain’t good if it’s true. Chinese are very strict people. If their government doesn’t want the App in their country for a reason best known to them, Zuckerberg should try to understand and abide by their regulations, instead of trying to play smart. If this come out eventually and Facebook was found culpable, the founder would forever regret his decision to play on the Chinese’ intelligence. A word is enough for the wise.