Facebook China?

It sounds a bit too far fetched to ever become a reality, but in the last few days I have been hearing and finding bits of small talk that suggest that the facebook empire may be opening it’s doors in the middle kingdom. Or, at the very least, Mark Zuckerberg (Founder) is trying.

Given the vast and limitlessly restrictive nature of the Chinese censors, a social platform such as Facebook doesn’t seem like it would be compatible with the government interest in the PRC; How can such a widespread social network survive within the restrictions that exist in China? The government is terrified of opening the gates to any method by which large groups of people could be sent messages encouraging unrest. Facebook is the perfect platform for doing such, at least in it’s current form. I suspect that if it were to gain access to the world’s largest audience, it would only be able to do so with drastic changes and limitations from the current American format.

Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine, has just posted a short but concise article on his thoughts about the prospects of Facebook within China, making note of the fact that although Zuckerberg will certainly have obstacles to overcome, it seems that his drive is strong enough to bring his media platform to life within this new market. Check out the article right here:

Facebook China? What would the U.S. say about it?

Even if he does sacrifice some of Facebook’s networking power in appeasement of government censors, a success in this arena will be very profitable.