We reported earlier this week that Facebook has been able to get a foot in the door in China. One of the world’s largest markets is off limits to the world’s largest social network. While Facebook itself remains blocked in China, the country allowed the company to open a subsidiary on the mainland. A new report reveals that China has now withdrawn the approval for Facebook’s subsidiary.
A Chinese government database had revealed that Facebook had been granted approval to open a subsidiary called Facebook Technology (Hangzhou). The $30 million subsidiary was set up to “to support Chinese developers, innovators and start-ups,” according to Facebook itself.
The New York Times reports that the registration has since disappeared and local media has also partly censored references to the Facebook subsidiary. The approval has also been withdrawn, according to a person familiar with the matter who revealed this to the scribe.
It’s further claimed that the decision to withdraw approval came after a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang where the subsidiary was located and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator. Apparently the regulatory was miffed that it hadn’t been closely consulted in the entire episode.
Facebook hasn’t commented on the matter as yet and neither have the Zhejiang provincial government or the Cyberspace Administration of China.
Filed in . Read more about Facebook.