Even before the explosive stock market debut last week of Ren Ren, the Chinese social networking service, Facebook had been looking closely at vaulting the great firewall that surrounds the Middle Kingdom. The spectacular valuation placed on the Chinese company’s shares can only encourage the US giant to accelerate its plans. But Facebook should look hard before it leaps.

The reputational risks associated with China entry are daunting. Many have drawn parallels between Facebook’s situation and that of Google, another American internet wunderkind, which plunged into China five years ago. This turned out to be a humbling experience for the search engine. Having initially accepted censorship of its service as the price of entry, Google pulled out in 2010 after a change of heart. It was left with the worst of all worlds; damned both for undercutting its own moral mission to order the world’s information and also for its commercial naivety in going in without having thought through the consequences.

It is hard to believe that things would be any easier for Facebook. The reputational problems it faces are, if anything, deeper. Not only must it deal with the censorship; but also the likelihood that the Chinese government will use its service to snoop on its own citizens. Facebook may not have set itself some “don’t be evil” style mission, but its raison d’être is to encourage its users to share personal information about themselves. This is morally problematic when the representatives of an authoritarian government are peering over one’s shoulder.

Moreover, there is no easy answer. Even if Facebook were able in some way to shield users from this gaze, perhaps by encrypting certain data, this would not be a durable solution. To the extent that this allowed the company to create a valuable Chinese business, it would simply make Facebook more vulnerable to future pressure from Beijing.

Of course, Facebook could take the robust view that snooping is simply a fact of online life in China. But as other internet operators have found, the moral compromises this involves can be very awkward to explain.

The commercial imperative may seem strong, but Facebook cannot simply shrug off its responsibility not to abet behaviour that violates human rights. Until it can articulate a strategy that allows it convincingly to navigate the ethical shoals, Facebook should refrain from sailing into China.

中国社交网络服务公司——人人网(Ren Ren)上周上市。在这次轰动性的首次公开发行之前，Facebook就一直在专心研究如何翻越那道环绕中国的“防火长城”。市场对人人网股票惊人的估价，只会鼓励这家美国巨头加速自身的计划。但在“翻墙”之前，Facebook应该三思。

进入中国可能带来的名誉风险，令人生畏。许多人都将Facebook的处境与另一家美国互联网巨头谷歌(Google)作对比。5年前，谷歌一头扎进中国，但接下来的经历让这家搜索引擎公司低下了头。谷歌最初为了获得准入许可，接受了中国政府对其服务的审查，但后来改变了主意，在2010年撤离了中国。这次经历留给谷歌的是一个最为糟糕的结局：既削弱了它自诩的构建世界信息的道德使命，更暴露出它在商业上的天真——没有三思而行便进入了中国。

我们很难相信Facebook的处境会容易多少。如果说有什么区别的话，它所面临的声誉问题只会更加严重。它不仅必须应付审查制度，还有可能面对中国政府利用其服务窥探公民的可能性。Facebook或许并没有给自己制定“不作恶”这类宗旨，但它之所以存在，靠的就是鼓励其用户分享自己的个人信息。当一个威权政府的代表可以从人们的背后偷偷窥探时，道德问题就随之而来。

而且，这个问题找不到简单的答案。即使Facebook能够通过某种方式（或许是通过加密特定数据）来保护用户不受偷窥，也并非长久之计。就算这能帮助Facebook在中国创建有价值的业务，但在未来面对北京方面的施压时，它只会让Facebook变得更加不堪一击。

当然，Facebook可以坚持认为，窥探已经成为中国互联网生活中的一部分。但正如其它互联网运营商所发现的那样，这其中所涉及的道德上的妥协，解释起来将十分令人难堪。

进军中国在商业上似乎势在必行，但Facebook不能简单地逃避责任，不能助长侵犯**的行为。除非可以拿出清晰的策略，帮助它令人信服地驶过这些道德“浅滩”，否则，Facebook应避免“驶入”中国。