Facebook, Under Rising Scrutiny, Picks Singapore for First Asia Data Center

The list of countries that offer both sufficient infrastructure and freedom of data transfer is shortening

SINGAPORE—Facebook Inc. said Thursday it would invest more than $1 billion in a new data center in Singapore, its first in Asia and a win for the city-state as other jurisdictions such as China tighten controls over where user data is stored.

The social-media giant is facing pressure globally to remove offensive and inflammatory content, a development that has emboldened countries including China, India and Vietnam to compel technology companies to store user data in the country of origin. That has raised concerns about privacy...