Facebook Quietly Launches an App in China, But With a Different Name
People take a selfie with a smartphone at the gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Photographer: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Facebook Inc. has found a new way to enter China: secretly launching an app under a different name.
The photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, was released in May to help Facebook enter a market that it’s been blocked from since 2009, according to a person familiar with the matter. Facebook has said its goal of connecting the world wouldn't be possible without the world's most populated country, but declined to confirm the details that were first reported by the New York Times.