Facebook is hoping to get a market foothold in China — where it's been blocked since 2009 — with software that censors posts from news feeds in specific geographic regions, the New York Times reported.
The social media giant has already restricted content in other countries, including Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, to comply with government requests to block certain content after it's posted, the Times reported.
The new feature that's quietly been developed, however, takes that technology a step further by preventing content from appearing in feeds in China in the first place, the Times reported.
"We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country," a company spokeswoman told the Times, adding the company hasn't made any decisions on its approach.
The project is controversial inside the company, the Times reported, with several Facebook employees quitting over the suppression tool, according to the Times.
But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered critics at one company meeting by asserting: "It's better for Facebook to be a part of enabling conversation, even if it's not yet the full conversation," the Times reported, citing unnamed employees.
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