Facebook Creating A Censorship Tool To Get Back Into China

[HardOCP News]

You would think that, with as much as Facebook talks about how it's all about freedoms and protecting its users, the company would simply refuse to do business in China rather than create a censorship tool.

The social network has quietly developed software to suppress posts from appearing in people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas, according to three current and former Facebook employees, who asked for anonymity because the tool is confidential. The feature was created to help Facebook get into China, a market where the social network has been blocked, these people said. Mr. Zuckerberg has supported and defended the effort, the people added. Facebook has restricted content in other countries before, such as Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, in keeping with the typical practice of American internet companies that generally comply with government requests to block certain content after it is posted.

 

[Probleminfected]

$$$ is all that matters.

 

[Azphira]

Zuckerberg is a tool.

 

[PeaKr]

Create or implement.

 

[Zion Halcyon]

Why not? They're already testing it here on anything that doesn't suit their political agenda...

 

[Matthew Kane]

It's not going to work. There are popular alternatives used within China.

 

[DrLobotomy]

I thought Facebook was ALREADY a censorship tool.

 

[azuza001]

Moral high ground < Potential profit. All companies follow this now, and why shouldnot they. They are companies. Companies by definition needs go make profit to stay in business (other than non for profits which get different rules).

It's why Google is no longer "do no evil". They really survived with that motto longer than expected.

 

[Tiburon1186]

Yeah they definitely already censor. Try to find more than like 5 "pro-conservative" stories.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

IMHO, we should have a law that holds U.S. citizens criminally liable if they aid and abet China's censorship program.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Yeah they definitely already censor. Try to find more than like 5 "pro-conservative" stories.

That's because they are working hard to remove fake news stories, and the truth has a consistent liberal bias.

 

[amddragonpc]

FB should try their censorship tool on the fake ads.

 

[niconx]

Welcome to America, where it's legal to make money while suppressing people's freedom of speech in other countries. WTF man, WTF. It's sick how this is even legal.