It's unclear whether the government ordered the app's takedown. China's censored internet leaves an opportunity for "somebody to make a filtered version of Google" to compete with local players, according to Rich Bishop, CEO of AppInChina. But it could also face challenges. That in itself is fairly difficult to get," Bishop, whose company helps developers publish their apps in China, told CNBC.
Skip Navigation. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Facebook has more than 2. The Chinese government controls internet content and restricts, deletes, or bans content it deems is not in the interest of the state. That roster has grown into a long list of companies. Chinese authorities blocked Facebook — along with Twitter and Google services — in July following riots in Xinjiang, a special autonomous region in western China.
The crackdown was aimed at curtailing communications among independence activists. China is considered to have one of the most extensive and sophisticated censorship regimes in the world. Dubbed the "Great Firewall," a number of methods are employed to control online expression, including website blocking and keyword filtering, censoring social media, and arresting content posters who broach sensitive or political issues.
A host of government agencies wield authority over the internet in China, such as the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Public Security. In , the government established the Cyberspace Administration of China as the main body for Internet censorship in China. Permission to run the start-up was quickly withdrawn. Despite not being able to operate in China, Meta derives significant revenue from the country.
In its annual report, the company said it generated "meaningful revenue from a limited number of resellers representing advertisers based in China. While the Great Firewall has kept foreign internet companies at bay, homegrown companies have been allowed to flourish.
Some Chinese Internet companies have enjoyed considerable success abroad. Beijing-based ByteDance runs the short-form video app TikTok, estimated to have million daily users worldwide. Despite the ban, there are a few ways to access Facebook and other blocked sites in China. Reputable VPN services give users a wide selection of servers to choose from worldwide, unlimited bandwidth, strong security, and no data caps.
Also, note that not all VPN providers offer both mobile and desktop apps. Unless you want to deal with a tedious manual configuration, be sure that the VPN you sign up for makes apps for the devices you wish to access Facebook on.
If you are not a Chinese citizen, then you have very little to worry about. VPNs are not illegal even though Chinese authorities do what they can to prevent access to them. If you write posts or comments on Facebook critical of China or its leadership, then you might face repercussions.
Facebook was first blocked in China in following a series of riots in the western capital of the Xinjiang province, Urumqi. Independence activists mainly made up of minority Muslim Uyghurs, reportedly used Facebook as part of their communications network. Facebook has been blocked ever since. As a western social media company, Chinese authorities have no control over the content of the site. Furthermore, users in western countries could freely communicate with users in China.
That way, you can install their software and toggle Shadowsocks from the app. However, if you set up a Shadowsocks server yourself or use one hosted by a friend, here's how to manually configure it on your device.
Download the latest version and extract the zip file. Of course, GitHub is blocked in China, so you should set up the connection before you're in the country.
Otherwise, you'll need to use Tor or VPN to get the install files. You won't need to install anything. Just extract the zip package and launch the executable. You will be greeted with a settings menu. Since there's a prerequisite to know already to which server you'll be connecting, this is where you enter the connection details. If you set up everything correctly, you'll be greeted with a pop-up saying that the connection is successful.
Then, you should head to System Proxy and enable Global mode. This will make all your data to go through Shadowsocks, allowing you unrestricted access to the Internet. You shouldn't get the wrong idea that a VPN is useful only because it unblocks banned foreign websites.
It's an important part of the equation, but it's not everything it does. A VPN service is one of the best ways to protect your anonymity on the web. It also protects you from excessive surveillance that can be dangerous when you're passing through places like China or Iran. It applies not only to foreigners but to the natives living there as well. Choosing the right VPN provider is paramount when you know you'll be in China. If you make the wrong call, you could be locked out of most western internet services for quite some time.
Here's what you should take into consideration:. Check our guide with the best VPNs for China to see which is the right choice for you. Here's a catch — VPNs aren't officially declared illegal, but they are restricted. For software to be legal in China, it must be approved by the Communist party.
What this means is that software becomes legal when the government has a backdoor. However, this applies to companies selling services rather than ordinary users. If you've heard about the man running a VPN in China that ended up in prison, that's a key takeaway — the selling part.
That does not mean that the common folk are in the clear to use them. There are almost no documented cases of someone getting in trouble just by using a VPN.
Still, you should be extra cautious in such a restrictive country. Chinese people spend just as much time on social media. However, this facilitated the growth of their native platforms as well. So, Weibo and WeChat are noteworthy examples of popular Chinese social media. The Great Firewall of China applies to all users residing in the country regardless of their citizen status.
However, it's possible to circumvent the block by using a VPN, Tor, or Shadowsocks with a remote server. That way, through intermediaries, you can access all the content that otherwise would be blocked.
By definition, social media isn't blocked in China, criticising the government is. Western companies do not submit to excessive China's requirements that defy simple human rights, including free speech.
Thus, they try to limit all instances when the people can revolt, which means blocks for unmonitored social media websites. However, you'll need a VPN or some other method to circumvent the block.
Facebook is blocked since On the contrary, the restriction potentially can become a lot worse when it comes to free speech and unrestricted internet access.
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