Whistleblower reveals Meta's dangerous ties to China

In the United States, Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former director of global public policy at Facebook, is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. This hearing will focus on her allegations against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, regarding its ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Wynn-Williams has asserted that Meta undermined U.S. national security and engaged in secretive collaborations with Chinese officials to build censorship tools and to provide access to user data. She claims that these actions were aimed at helping China advance its technological capabilities, particularly in artificial intelligence. Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, argues that Meta executives knowingly misled employees, shareholders, Congress, and the public about their dealings with China. Her accusations also detail initiatives such as “Project Aldrin,” a covert effort by Facebook to establish a presence in China. She highlights how the company aimed to create tools that could censor not only Chinese users but also American citizens, indicating a direct threat to free speech and privacy. As part of her testimony, Wynn-Williams will offer insights into Meta's internal documents, which she claims outline strategies to enhance the Chinese government’s influence. She further contests the company’s public stance that it no longer operates in China, suggesting that the gap in claims reveals a pattern of deception meant to protect business interests at the expense of national security. The subcommittee hearing is perceived as part of a broader investigation into Big Tech companies' foreign relations, particularly concerning their dealings with authoritarian regimes. Senator Josh Hawley has openly criticized Meta and supported the necessity for accountability and transparency regarding its actions and relationships, especially with adversarial nations.