Article snippet: SHANGHAI — public. Now the social network is trying a different way into China: by authorizing the release of a new app there that does not carry the Facebook name. Facebook approved the May debut of a photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, in China, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s plans, who declined to be named because the information is politically sensitive. The app, which has not previously been reported, shares the look, function and feel of Facebook’s Moments app. It was released through a separate local company and without any hint that the social network is affiliated with it. The stealthy and anonymous release of an app by a major foreign technology company in China is unprecedented. It shows the desperation — and frustration — of global tech companies as they try to break into the world’s largest online market. It also underscores the lengths they are willing to go, and their increasing acceptance of the idea that standards for operating in China are different from elsewhere. China’s internet censorship — which includes making some news websites inaccessible and passing rules that result in app removals — has left big players like Facebook and Google on the sidelines of a major boom there. The country boasts an audience of more than 700 million internet users who buy $750 billion of stuff online a year, but they are served by local tech companies that have developed their own way of doing business that can seem exotic to Sil... Link to the full article to read more
In China, Facebook Tests the Waters With a Stealth App - The New York Times
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