back to article Facebook's big trouble in its little world domination plan: China

One of the central themes of Facebook's F8 developer conference in San Francisco this week has been Mark Zuckerberg's plans to wire up the world with Facebook internet access. Attendees were repeatedly reminded that even in this day and age, there are people not using Facebook – at least four billion people, allegedly. A fair …

  1. Mike Shepherd

    Sounds familiar?

    "China...actively dislikes the possibility of people being able to chat to each other without local censors being able to monitor what is going on".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sounds familiar?

      So *exactly* like the UK and US then?

      1. Captain DaFt

        Re: Sounds familiar?

        "So *exactly* like the UK and US then?"

        Well not exactly. China is upfront and honest, "We don't trust you lot, and are watching you."

        UK and US, "WE respect your rights and freedoms... But Terrorists! and Pedos! are threatening you! We must be vigilante and monitor Everybody for your own good!"

  2. Tromos

    "China doesn't see the need for Facebook"

    I'm wondering if I have some Chinese ancestry.

    1. Ian 55

      Re: "China doesn't see the need for Facebook"

      It does make me tempted to move there.

    2. Mark 85
      Happy

      Re: "China doesn't see the need for Facebook"

      I'm wondering if I have some Chinese ancestry.

      I'm thinking that there's a lot of us that some of that ancestry and don't know it.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "China doesn't see the need for Facebook"

      No, they have their own 'facebook' and they are just as bad, if not worse, than facebook users...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Communism and now

    Communism and now Islam .. the bane of the West. Die capitalist pig, die infidel dog .. we just are not held in high esteem by these people.

    People forget that mainland China remains a one party dictatorship which literally kills the opposition, no matter how slight. ISIS people, of course, just kill - after praying to their 'god' of course (unless the victime is female, then they pray and rape, then kill).

    When these are the environments Facebook is attempting to operate in, if it's not all butterflies and buttercups all the rainbow sunshine day, they shouldn't be surprised.

  4. ratfox

    There's another factor

    China already has multiple entrenched social networks like Weibo, WeChat and others. Even if Facebook was allowed in China, I doubt they would be able to make a dent.

  5. e^iπ+1=0

    Satellite

    Am I missing something here, or couldn't Facebook just bung up a geostationary satellite with a footprint covering the middle kingdom?

    Admittedly it might not be too hard for the authorities to locate the ground stations, but might be worth a try.

    Of course said satellite might encounter a sudden space debris encounter, but it's gotta be worth a shot.

  6. Jim-234

    Just say NO to Zuck's "limited internet"

    India had the right idea and as far as I'm concerned so does China.

    Just say NO to the Zuck's plan to give people "free" "limited internet".

    There are so many reasons from national sovereignty down to individual freedom, liberty & freedom of speech that people should not just be saying NO to Zuck, but adding their favourite expletive before the NO & possibly a few more descriptive things afterwards just for good measure.

    I'd say the Chinese government are doing their people a favour by keeping them out of Zuck's tentacles.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'll back Zuck over Gates on this

    if you're dying of diarrhea....then internet access is fairly low down on your list of priorities.

    Whilst correct, that ignores the fact that most gastro-intestinal infections are easily preventable with relatively low tech solutions, but a critical barrier is knowledge.

    Keeping sewage out of local water supplies is an essentially manual labour task (if you know that you need to do that). Basic water treatment if you have no control over your drinking water quality is essentially low tech, with advice from (eg) Wateraid readily accessible online (again you need to know to look for it). Or if you've got safe drinking water, then there's the issue of knowledge on basic personal hygiene.

    The Victorians worked much of this out and solved it with no modern technology. If you give these populations better access to the rest of the world's knowledge, they can find out how to solve many of their own problems, and both their own governments and international agencies can direct knowledge and advice at them.

    Zuck's "free internet for the poor" can be challenged on many levels, and I'm no fan of Facebook. But rather than shoot it down for its flaws, why not see it for its opportunities? And lets see the naysayers come up with better, credible, funded plans to give these people access to the remarkable communication tool that the internet is, and to the huge amounts of knowledge and good advice that are linked to it and could improve their lives.

  8. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "But if Facebook started selling out Chinese users, who might then spend the next few years slaving in a Chinese work camp, the backlash is going to be huge. Facebook is all about social, and its users in the West would use the company's own site to organize against it."

    Excuse me? Selling out its users is Facebook's business model. And every Facebook user is a willing part of it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      And every Facebook user is a willing part of it.

      Well, I find half the value of The Register is in the comment sections. And that means that you and I are working for free. It's an outrage!

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