Why did 250,000 Chinese Facebook users disappear on April 5?

Yesterday, my colleague Christina Larson discussed reports that that Facebook has reached a deal with Chinese search engine Baidu to build a social networking site specifically for China. (There are conflicting accounts today of whether the deal has gone through yet. In a possibly related development, Jessica Colwell of Shanghaiist spots a very strange development ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Yesterday, my colleague Christina Larson discussed reports that that Facebook has reached a deal with Chinese search engine Baidu to build a social networking site specifically for China. (There are conflicting accounts today of whether the deal has gone through yet. In a possibly related development, Jessica Colwell of Shanghaiist spots a very strange development in China's Facebook community: 

Yesterday, my colleague Christina Larson discussed reports that that Facebook has reached a deal with Chinese search engine Baidu to build a social networking site specifically for China. (There are conflicting accounts today of whether the deal has gone through yet. In a possibly related development, Jessica Colwell of Shanghaiist spots a very strange development in China’s Facebook community: 

Back in February, we saw users more than double following Mark Zuckerberg’s visit in December. This month, the numbers are way, way down. Not a gradual drop off, mind you. On April 5, about 40% of Chinese Facebookers disappeared.

April 5 ring any bells? It’s two days after Ai Weiwei was arrested. Not sure whether this is just a strange coincidence (unlikely) but the approximately 250,000 that dropped off the face of the internet remain missing along with the rest of China’s activists.

Colwell speculates that the users might have been kicked off for using pseudonyms, like the site did with blogger Michael Anti last month, but it still seems like an awful lot of users. Strange.

Hat tip: China Digital Times

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.