--- description: Facebook is working on a program to restrict stories from showing up in news feeds based upon a user’s geography title: Facebook Is Willing to Restrict News Stories in China image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1778ca6cff426b5b/6988a494cd1bba145a7022dc/gettyimages-490329518.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Facebook Reportedly Willing to Restrict News Stories in China by [Scott Cendrowski / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Scott Cendrowski / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 23, 2016 1:42 PM CUT  Mark Zuckerberg listens as Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, not pictured, speaks during a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Sept. 27, 2015. Mark Zuckerberg listens as Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, not pictured, speaks during a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Sept. 27, 2015.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Scott Cendrowski / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Scott Cendrowski / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 23, 2016 1:42 PM CUT Many [analysts](http://fortune.com/2014/10/24/mark-zuckerbergs-grade-in-china-a-his-companys-incomplete/ "undefined") and [insiders](http://fortune.com/2012/09/10/facebooks-china-problem/ "undefined") thought Facebook would never come back to China after its service was blocked there in 2009\. Facebook’s mission of making “the world more open and connected” was at odds with China’s mission to [wall off](http://fortune.com/2015/12/16/chinas-xi-spreads-censorship-ideals-at-internet-conference/ "undefined") its Internet and censor content its government finds objectionable. Now it seems many analysts underestimated Facebook’s willingness to make concessions to Chinese authorities over the terms that have kept it out. Facebook is working on a program to restrict stories from showing up in news feeds based upon a user’s geography, the [_New York Times_ ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/technology/facebook-censorship-tool-china.html "undefined")reports, the first time the tool that actively caters to censors has been revealed. The tool was created to help Facebook get into China, the _Times_ said, but the company has also labeled the censorship program an experiment and one that may never be used. Still, the news is surprising. It reflects both the pragmatic desires of the world’s most valuable social network to expand in a market of 1.4 billion people, and the moral concessions it must make in order to be everywhere for everyone. China is Facebook’s biggest untapped potential market. The country’s Internet population numbers 700 million and grows more affluent every year. At the same time, China’s Internet has been receding from the rest of the world’s. China’s President Xi Jinping has called for a sovereign Internet in China, and his administration has pushed through [new rules to regulate](http://fortune.com/2016/02/20/china-foreign-media-rules/ "undefined") Western media content. After Twitter and Facebook were blocked in 2009, homegrown social networks—Tencent’s Facebook-like WeChat, and Sina’s Twitter-like Weibo—have become the market leaders, heavily censoring content as requested by the government in order to sustain their business operating licenses. \[fortune-brightcove videoid=5219073864001\] Facebook’s reported censorship tool could be used by a potential partner in China, the _Times_ suggested. Many foreign companies have a joint Chinese partner for their Chinese operations. Such a partner might allow Facebook to sidestep accusations of censorship by passing it off on someone else, especially in China, a market where other U.S. tech companies including LinkedIn and Microsoft’s Bing search engine have agreed to censorship. In a statement to _Fortune_, a Facebook spokesperson [neither confirmed nor denied](http://fortune.com/2016/11/22/facebook-censorship-china/ "undefined") the existence of a censorship tool. But news of the program will likely ramp up pressure on the Silicon Valley company, which is already [under fire for the spread of fake news on ](http://fortune.com/2016/11/21/facebook-zuckerberg-fake-news-stop/ "undefined")its site that may have influenced the U.S. presidential election. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4581361/facebook-china-censorship-news-mark-zuckerberg/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4581361/facebook-china-censorship-news-mark-zuckerberg/"},"headline":"Facebook Reportedly Willing to Restrict News Stories in China","datePublished":"2016-11-23T13:42:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:45.742Z","description":"In exchange for access to a potentially lucrative market","url":"https://time.com/4581361/facebook-china-censorship-news-mark-zuckerberg/","keywords":["Tech","Social Media","facebook"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1778ca6cff426b5b/6988a494cd1bba145a7022dc/gettyimages-490329518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Scott Cendrowski / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1778ca6cff426b5b/6988a494cd1bba145a7022dc/gettyimages-490329518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets With Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg","caption":"Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., listens as Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, not pictured, speaks during a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4581361/facebook-china-censorship-news-mark-zuckerberg/","name":"Facebook Reportedly Willing to Restrict News Stories in China"}}]}] ```