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China, one of the world's largest Internet markets, could be out of reach of Facebook because of the Chinese government's strict censorship policies, the company said in its filing for an initial public offering (IPO).

The company however continues to "evaluate entering China".

Analysts do not expect conditions to get favourable soon for Facebook in China. The market, which already has popular homespun social networking sites, is also moving to Twitter-like microblogs.

"China is a large potential market for Facebook, but users are generally restricted from accessing Facebook from China," the filing said. "We do not know if we will be able to find an approach to managing content and information that will be acceptable to us and to the Chinese government."

Speculation on Facebook entering the Chinese market mounted in late 2010 when the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited several major IT firms in the country. But to enter the country's market Facebook would have to abide by China's censorship laws, which force sites to delete content critical of the government. Besides Facebook, some other Internet sites like YouTube and Twitter are currently blocked in the country.

The Chinese government was always nervous about Facebook, said Bill Bishop, an independent analyst who watches the Chinese Internet market. Facebook's role last year as a forum for protestors to organise against governments in the Middle East and North Africa only cemented those concerns, he said.

"If Facebook wants to come to China, it would be great, but it's extremely unlikely to happen in the near or medium-term," Bishop added.

Facebook will also have to compete in a market already occupied by strong domestic players, said Mark Natkin, managing director for Marbridge Consulting. Some of these competitors include sites such as Renren, which features a user interface similar to Facebook, and had 137 million users as of September 30.

But many of China's Internet users are moving away from Renren and other Facebook-like social networking sites and instead flocking to Twitter-like microblogs operated by local Chinese companies. Chinese users of these Twitter-like microblogs have reached 250 million users, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

"From a competitive standpoint, the market has already moved on," he added.

In spite of being blocked in the country, Facebook still has some users in China. Beijing resident Shi Beichen, a Facebook user since 2006, said he visits the site by connecting through a virtual private network (VPN), which allows him to view sites blocked by Chinese authorities.

One reason he uses Facebook is because the site is free of censorship. He also likes the site because it allows him to synchronise his different Internet applications such as Tumblr and Instapaper on to one platform through Facebook, he said.

"I think Facebook will enter China. Zuckerberg wants to come. But it will be extremely difficult," Shi said, noting China's censorship laws and the popularity of social networking sites already operating in the country. "Foreign Internet companies still don't quite understand the Chinese Internet market or its users' habits. Even if the companies don't involve themselves with sensitive topics, it will still be hard for them to succeed."

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Facebook says censorship puts China out of reach

08-03-2011 08:05 The series is devided into 10 parts and is created to unveil the hidden policies of media and mind controling and it contains some extremely important information. It is time for you to Wake Up and understand what is going on in the world.

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Mind Control (Part 5): Mass Media Entertainment - Video

14-07-2011 09:15

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Media G324: Out of Control - Video

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, speaks to the media after the Senate passed a two month extension of the payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and payments to Medicare providers on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 23, 2011. The House passed the bill a short time later. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg 

Published: Feb. 2, 2012 at 12:02 PM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Control of the U.S. Senate is going to be a close call with candidates' war chests playing a key role, a review of the year-end fundraising reports indicated.

Roll Call rated seven seats as toss-ups, all the candidates -- incumbents and challengers alike -- have healthy bank accounts, the publication reported Thursday.

Democrats have 23 Senate seats to defend compared to the Republicans' 10. The GOP must add four seats to pick up a majority.

Democratic strategist Jeff Pollock of Global Strategy Group said, "It's no secret our side has more seats to defend, and the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] has made sure our candidates have their campaigns in order."

Pollock said Democrats expanded the playing field by good recruiting in Arizona, where Republican Sen. Jon Kyl is retiring, and Massachusetts, where Harvard University professor Elizabeth Warren is challenging GOP incumbent Scott Brown.

"So we have reason to be optimistic about how things will turn out when the American people choose which party they want leading the country," Pollock told Roll Call.

"As much as I would like to believe that 2012 will be a wave election for Republicans, it is unlikely to be so at the presidential level," Scott Bensing, a former executive director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said. "It will be close, meaning that high-quality Senate candidates and well-run campaigns will win the day."

Roll Call lists as toss-ups open Democratic seats in New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin; the seats of Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana, and the seats of Republicans Sens. Brown and Dean Heller of Nevada.

Financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicated Heller collected $1.1 million.

Brown raised $3.3 million during the last quarter to try to retain his Massachusetts seat.

McCaskill, Tester and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine led Republican opponents, with all having at least $1.3 million in the cash advantage, Roll Call said of its review of the FEC documents. In Wisconsin, Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin, raised $1.2 million last quarter and likely will face either former Gov. Tommy Thompson or former Rep. Mark Neumann in the general election.

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Control of the U.S. Senate a toss-up

Pfizer Inc is reaching out directly to women consumers to warn them about its U.S. recall of one million packets of birth control pills as concerns mounted that a manufacturing error could raise the risk of unplanned pregnancies.

The world's largest drugmaker recalled 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 and 14 lots of the generic counterpart Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol late on Tuesday, prompting panicked exchanges on social media like Twitter.

Litigators began soliciting new clients who may have suffered health problems or unplanned pregnancy as a result.

"Unfortunately, this manufacturing error diminishes people's confidence in an extremely important and safe method of contraception," said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for external medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Cullins noted this version of birth control has been in use for decades and remains safe and effective.

Pfizer said on Wednesday that the error may have been limited to 30 packets of the birth control pills, in which the "placebo" tablets taken at the beginning of a woman's menstrual cycle were placed in the wrong order with the pills that contain the contraceptive's active ingredient.

The placebo pills, which are different color from the active tablets, were placed in the blister pack out of order during the automated packaging process in a few random packets manufactured throughout 2011, company spokeswoman Kristen Neese said.

Pfizer was alerted to the problem when a consumer noticed a discolored pill in the middle of a pack, she said. All lots possibly affected were recalled, the problem was fixed and prevention measures are now in place, she said.

The company is now using social media and video messages on its own website to notify women of the recall.

But even if the error was more limited, women who took pills from any of the recalled lots should use a non-hormonal form of birth control immediately, experts said.

"If pills come from those lots, she should consider those pills ineffective from the standpoint of preventing pregnancy," Cullins said. "She is at risk of ovulation, of eggs being released and of becoming pregnant."

Pfizer manufactures and packages the birth control pill, but it is sold by Akrimax Pharmaceuticals.

The pills were distributed nationwide with no specific geographic concentration, Pfizer said. Expiration dates on the affected packs range from July 2013 to March 2014.

Dr. Natasha Johnson, a gynecologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, said most women these days take generic forms of birth control pills.

She called the affected brands "fairly popular, well tolerated pills."

The Pfizer recall comes on the heels of increased attention surrounding birth control and possible health risks.

In recent months, U.S. health advisers have recommended stricter labels on a more widely used, newer generation of birth control pills, based on data showing they may put women at a higher risk of dangerous blood clots. They include Bayer AG's popular Yaz and Yasmin tablets.

A new federal rule requiring religious universities and other affiliated institutions to provide free birth control coverage has also drawn fresh opposition from religious groups.

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Pfizer cites packaging flaws in birth control pill recall