I don't think that Chinese officials necessarily want to block FB just because of privacy issues. I believe what they want is three-fold: 1. By blocking big in

I don't think that Chinese officials necessarily want to block FB just because of privacy issues. I believe what they want is three-fold: 1. By blocking big internet companies in the USA it gives homegrown companies an opportunity to rise to spur economic growth and create jobs. 2. Having homegrown solutions that compete directly with US companies is good for the Chinese morale and public image of the government. Showing that they too are capable of creating and running large internet companies that will drive economic growth in the next century. 3. In case of emergency China entities are a lot easier to control the outflow of information. Whereas I feel getting FB or Google to block something might be more of a nuisance. However, while this is the most popular reason why the government has blocked FB and Google (it's fun to vilify governments in general), I believe that in case of emergency they would just shut these sites down, so I believe explanations 1 and 2 are ultimately the bigger impact in this decision.