Could Facebook censor itself to crack China?

Long-standing rumours that Facebook is planning to try and crack the Chinese market have been given even more credence thanks to comments from a Washington lobbyist, who hinted that Mark Zuckerberg was considering self-censorship in order to establish the site in China, the country with the most internet users in the world.

Last year Zuckerberg was seen "comparing notes" with Robin Li, chief executive of China's most popular search engine, Baidu, during a visit to Beijing, sparking speculation about his intentions in the Far East.

Facebook has been banned in China since 2008 and Google shut down its Chinese operation a year ago after deciding that it would not allow the state to censor its search results.

However, Facebook lobbyist Adam Conner told the Wall Street Journal this week: "Maybe we will block content in some countries, but not others. We are occasionally held in uncomfortable positions because now we're allowing too much, maybe, free speech in countries that haven't experienced it before."

China's levels of censorship are likely to be exacting, though. Pro-democracy uprisings have spread across the Middle East this year, and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have had a major part to play in fermenting unrest. Partly as a result of the rebellions and calls for a 'Jasmine revolution' in China, the regime has ordered a crackdown on dissidents, most notably arresting artist Ai Weiwei.

Facebook would not elaborate on the comments from Conner, but did confirm that he was employed by the site. "Right now we're studying and learning about China but have made no decisions about if, or how, we will approach it," said a spokeswoman for the site.

The comments from Conner overshadowed a visit from Barack Obama to Facebook's offices in California on Wednesday. The most notable aspect of the 'town hall meeting' was that Zuckerberg wore a shirt and tie.

The president answered just eight questions at the cosy event which was described as "pretty predictable and very, very vanilla" by the San Francisco Chronicle. ·