Should Facebook Self-Censor to Enter the Chinese Market?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Kaiser Kuo, Clay Shirky & more on November 28, 2016

The social network Facebook has reportedly developed software to suppress posts from users’ feeds in targeted geographic areas, a feature created to help the giant social media network gain access to China, where it is blocked. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has long been courting China’s leaders, studying Mandarin, and talking with Chinese Internet executives. How far should he and his company go in order to grow? At what expense?

Andrew McLaughlin

on November 27, 2016

Andrew McLaughlin is a New York City-based tech executive. He established and led Google’s public policy operation from 2004 to 2009, managing the company’s relationship with the Chinese government during the period in which Google entered that market. He chairs the board of Access Now, an NGO that fights online censorship and unlawful surveillance around the world.