Facebook was blocked in mainland China in 2009 following conflict between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang. Now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is on a "charm offensive" likely intended to convince the government to bring the site back through the firewall... in a heavily censored form. Meanwhile, Chinese social media users have been amused and confused by Zuckerberg's journey, which has been featured in state media rather than censored:
Chinese social media users have taken to popular microblog Sina Weibo to mock media coverage of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's visit, since Facebook is blocked in China. Whilst outlets praised Mr Zuckerberg's "sincere" acts of diplomacy, web users mocked the activities he has taken part in during his China visit, which included jogging through "hazy" Beijing's Tiananmen Square, visiting the Great Wall and meeting China's propaganda chief Liu Yunshan as well as fellow media guru Jack Ma.
[...] The Breaking News account on Sina Weibo, which has over 49 million followers, asked users the question: "Will Facebook this time successfully enter the Chinese market?" Despite Facebook being blocked, the post appears to have survived censorship cuts perhaps because Alibaba, headed by internet entrepreneur Jack Ma, owns a 31.4% stake in the popular microblog. Jack Ma is one of the people Mr Zuckerberg met during his visit. Outlets also virally shared pictures showing the Facebook founder riding a toboggan down the Great Wall, which were originally posted on his Facebook account. Despite traditionally censoring posts from the US social network, the overseas edition of People's Daily shared posts on his visit. These included one by "Michael Wyh", alluding to China's firewall. "I thought there were two great walls in China: one for Mark Zuckerberg, and one for Chinese residents," it reads, receiving over 100 likes.
Amid heavy media coverage of the Zuckerberg visit, many users expressed bemusement, since they have absolutely no idea who he is. "Who is this? What is Facebook, what website?" asks PlanAsphy. Chen Jinlei JC appears to offer an explanation, saying "Overseas Facebook users are all 'older people'." Others simply commented on his physique, especially during his Tiananmen Square jog. Bad-Jim said "His body is alright". "The CEO's beauty cannot be blocked," adds LiYouYou_Asik.
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Officials in Xinjiang will deny benefits to children with certain Islamic or Islam-related names:
Many couples fret over choosing the perfect name for their newborn, but for Muslims in western China that decision has now become even more fraught: pick the wrong name and your child will be denied education and government benefits.
Officials in the western region of Xinjiang, home to roughly half of China's 23 million Muslims, have released a list of banned baby names amid an ongoing crackdown on religion, according to a report by US-funded Radio Free Asia.
Names such as Islam, Quran, Saddam and Mecca, as well as references to the star and crescent moon symbol, are all unacceptable to the ruling Communist party and children with those names will be denied household registration, a crucial document that grants access to social services, healthcare and education.
Muhammad, Jihad, Medina, Mujahid, Arafat, Imam, Hajj, and Yultuzay are also banned.
Also at NYT. Reuters story about other restrictions that went into effect on April 1st.
Related: West Facing 'Payback' for Colonialism, says China's State-run Paper
China's Xi Jinping Negotiates $46bn Superhighway to Pakistan
Facebook's Zuckerberg Meets With China's Propaganda Chief, Social Media Mocks Facebook Block
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday March 23 2016, @10:23PM
"I thought there were two great walls in China: one for Mark Zuckerberg, and one for Chinese residents," it reads, receiving over 100 likes.
Over 100 Likes, wow really popular then.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2016, @02:42AM
> What is Facebook, what website?" asks PlanAsphy.
Sometimes, it's not only the ruling class who benefit from censorship.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 23 2016, @11:06PM
Never trust a jew. Mark Zuckerberg is a jew. Thus you should never trust Facebook.
He'll sell your private information and expose to the public what you thought would remain private in his never ending quest for the shekels. Dumb goys actually trust him.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2016, @08:03AM
China is still not under their total control, so they are sending one of their rich (who got rich through exploitation of those who produce value) to try and take over China as well.
Some smart people even made movies about them not so long ago, which are being lost (or hard to find) due to pressure from these creatures.
Every time they are driven out, they work hard to re-write history so they can rape and pillage the world again. And the funny this is, they tell you they are the victims.
Danger of allowing one of their kind among you [holywar.org].
More media, books [solargeneral.org]. Also check out this section [solargeneral.org].
Now go ahead and make fun of those who tried to warn you, who said over and over again to be careful with these animals, but you did not listen. You were too busy receiving holywood 'programming' to pay attention.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2016, @02:45PM
*yawn*
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday March 23 2016, @11:06PM
Dice.com is seeking good-looking technical staff [soylentnews.org]. If this plucky fellow doesn't manage to get his site unblocked, perhaps Dice can find work for him—or even a mate.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Thursday March 24 2016, @12:51AM
Tough choice.. Chinese sites that censor stuff that matters, or Faceyuck that censors stuff that government doesn't want which usually is the ones that matters. All that in a cesspool of drama people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2016, @01:20AM
'nuff said
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2016, @02:50AM
Wikileaks claims Facebook was censoring their stuff:
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/710884889797722112 [twitter.com]
Google seems to like the Clinton side too:
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/336408-google-this-hillary-clinton-emails/ [rt.com]
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Thursday March 24 2016, @05:38AM
It's well known that Facebook lacks any moral or intellectual spine at all. Still they are allowed to extend their octopus style arms everywhere.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday March 24 2016, @08:12AM
This is not the Facebook you are looking for. All your China belong to us. Wow, doge looks puzzled! I billion, um, served? Huang-di, Confucius, Cheng Bros, and Jackie Chan (not to mention the Great Stone Dragon!) all hang their heads in shame. Is this an actual news article? Why am I reading it? What about the goddamned Berne convention? [Warnings, Soylentils, there be IP trolls afoot. Mod accordingly. And guess who the main target of IP trolls is? You can get Win10 for three-fiddy, on any street where they do not know who Suckerberg is! Seriously.