Facebook worked on special software so it could potentially accommodate censorship demands in China, according to a report in (The New York Times).

    The social network refused to confirm or deny the software's existence, but said in a statement it was "spending time understanding and learning more" about China.    

    The social network has been banned in China since 2009, evidently due to the interest by authorities there to control information shared or movements organized using the internet.

    Since 2009, the only way to access Facebook in China has been via a virtual private network - software designed to "spoof" your real location and avoid local internet restrictions.

    Facebook, which has 1.8 billion active users, is aggressively looking to expand in parts of the world beyond its existing markets. No decisions about the company's approach in the country had yet been made, a spokeswoman said. 

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group which campaigns for better privacy online, told the (BBC) the project sounded "extremely disturbing".

Source: QNA