Should Facebook launch in China?

Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly bringing Chinese users a government-approved social-networking site

China may finally be getting a government-approved version of Facebook, after Mark Zuckerberg reportedly put together a deal for the world's largest social network to gain a foothold in the w
(Image credit: Corbis)

Facebook is by far the world's most popular social network, but it remains officially banned in China. In an effort to finally gain a foothold there, the company has partered up with Baidu, China's widely used internet portal, to create a government-approved social-networking site that could potentially reach hundreds of millions of people. If it's approved by the Chinese government — a big if — the Facebook/Baidu network would act as a standalone site; it would probably not bear the Facebook imprimatur, or even be officially integrated with Facebook.com. Regardless, Facebook would certainly face questions about the ethics of working with China, given its dicey history of censorship. Is this the right move for Zuckerberg and Co.?

This deal is all upside: A potential partnership between Baidu and Facebook is logical (and potentially lucrative) for both companies, says Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry at Business Insider. To break into the enormous Chinese market, Facebook could use a local helping hand. Baidu, meanwhile, is currently trying to ward off a social-networking challenge from upstart Tencent, and "it might be a safer bet to build a social network with one of the most successful social companies in the world than to try to build its own."

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