Facebook Stealthily Launches an App in China

One of the world’s most popular social media sites, Facebook Inc, has found a new way to sneak into China, stealthily launching a photo-sharing app called Colorful Balloons in the country’s iOS App Store, but under a new name.

Since 2009, social media giant Facebook and other social networking sites have been banned in China, and the app signifies an attempt of Facebook to enter the market of the world’s most populous country.

About Colorful Balloons

The photo-sharing app was released in China in May, but doesn’t bring the name of Facebook. The social media giant confirmed on Saturday that it launched the app.

It is said to be like of Facebook’s Moments applications in look, function and feel, and lets users share photos with their friends and family. It was released in the country by a company called Youge Internet Technology, which appeared to have no hint that Facebook is affiliated with it. Interestingly, Facebook also forewent all branding in the application, which probably has something to do with the fact that it is blocked in China.

The company has long eyed on China’s 700 million internet. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has made talks with Chinese politicians to make Facebook available in the country, but didn’t succeed. He made it very clear that he would want to see the social networking app Facebook in China.

“We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time, understanding, and learning more about the country in different ways,” the company said. “Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform.”

On the other hand, Colorful Balloons will be interfacing with WeChat, which is the most well-known messaging application and social network in China.

“Colorful Balloons can group user’s phone pictures and videos based on time, locations, and characters. It can help you create albums and share them with friends and family,” the Chinese description reads.

The launch of the app comes as China is cracking down on technology that allows web surfers to avoid Beijing’s online censorship.

China’s Strict Online Censorship

China’s ruling Communist Party controls internet traffic across the country’s borders and tries to keep the public from seeing thousands of websites outside China. Chinese authorities have long shunned Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, arguing that foreign social media services operating beyond their control pose a threat to national security.

Last month, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, a messaging platform, has been partially blocked in the country. In addition, apps, including SnapChat, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook-owned Instagram, are also banned.

Some users from the country have depended on Virtual Private Networks, a technology that allows users to route their data overseas, to get around the block, although the government is cracking down on those tools, too.

Because of the strict internet censorship, the blockage of western social media sites helped the popularity of the homegrown messaging app, WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings, and microblogging service, Weibo.

Conclusion

According to reports, it remained unclear if Facebook has notified China’s internet regulators about the app, or if such notice was even needed. Facebook’s China dream may be unrelated if consumers don’t give much care for it.

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