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Facebook allows ads to be served to mainland China users despite a long-standing domestic ban

  • The social media giant’s ad-buying portal tells businesses they can target specific cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin
  • Facebook has been blocked in mainland China since 2009

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It is unclear how long Facebook’s advertisers have been allowed to target users in mainland China, or even how those views are being recorded by the social media giant. Photo: Reuters
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Facebook has been allowing advertisers to target users in mainland China, despite a ban on the company’s social networks there that prohibits citizens from accessing the apps.

The social media giant has long said it works with Chinese advertisers to reach users only outside the country, not inside. But the company’s advertising system tells a different story.

Through the ad-buying portal, businesses are told they can reach 3.7 million people in mainland China on Instagram, the photo-sharing app Facebook owns. Advertisers can target specific cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.
Facebook said this is not a mistake. “There are various technical ways a very small fraction of people in China may be able to access Facebook and see ads,” the company said in a statement. For example, the company cited those who use international mobile roaming or otherwise have access to an international connection. The social network has been blocked in China since 2009.
A Facebook marketing display is seen at the China International Import Expo 2019 event in Shanghai in November of last year. Photo: Reuters
A Facebook marketing display is seen at the China International Import Expo 2019 event in Shanghai in November of last year. Photo: Reuters

The mainland targeting option was used recently by one of China’s state-sponsored media organisations, according to Facebook’s public ad archive. While some ads from China Daily have asked mainland users for likes and follows, others carry more political messages.

A China Daily Hong Kong ad which ran during the height of the US protests on police violence displays President Donald Trump’s negative response to those, in contrast with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s positive response to the Hong Kong protests.

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