In China, Facebook Tests the Waters With a Stealth App<br />Yet even if Facebook is able to use Colorful Balloons to keep up with the Chinese market, a recent intense internet crackdown<br />in China suggests the political winds may not soon blow in favor of the company further entering the country.<br />Coming just ahead of a key meeting of the Chinese Communist Party this autumn, the secretive release<br />of Colorful Balloons could also undermine trust between the company and the Chinese government.<br />The app was released in China by a company called Youge Internet Technology, according to a post in Apple’s app store.<br />Yet the social network was banned in China in 2009, followed by its photo-sharing app Instagram in 2014,<br />and its messaging app WhatsApp was partially blocked last month.<br />Facebook approved the May debut of a photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, in China, according to a person<br />with knowledge of the company’s plans, who declined to be named because the information is politically sensitive.<br />For example, people who post photos from Colorful Balloons on WeChat will see a link that lets other users download Facebook’s Chinese app.
