Meta Whistleblower Alleges National Security Compromise for $18 Billion Chinese Market: US Senators Hear Testimony

A Meta whistleblower told US senators on Wednesday that the company undermined national security in order to build a $18 billion business in China.

At a congressional hearing, Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former global public policy director at Facebook, said she watched as executives decided to provide the Chinese Communist Party‬ with access to the data of Meta users, including that of Americans.

Meta has disputed Ms Wynn-Williams’s statements.

“Sarah Wynn-Williams’ testimony is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims,” said Meta spokesman Ryan Daniels.

Mr Daniels said CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been public about the company’s interest in offering its services in China, but added. “[T]he fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today.”

Meta does, however, generate advertising revenue from advertisers based in China.

During her testimony before a Senate judiciary subcommittee, Ms Wynn-Williams also alleged the parent company of Facebook and Instagram worked “hand in glove” with Beijing to build censorship tools aimed at silencing critics of the Chinese Community Party.

Specifically, she said Meta capitulated to China’s demands that it delete the Facebook account of Guo Wengui, a Chinese dissident living in the US.

Meta maintains it unpublished Mr Guo’s page and suspended his profile because it violated the company’s Community Standards.

“One thing the Chinese Communist Party and Mark Zuckerberg share is that they want to silence their critics. I can say that from personal experience,” Ms Wynn-Williams said during her testimony.

In March, Ms Wynn-Williams released a memoir called “Careless People” about her experience at the company, which was then called Facebook.

Meta won an emergency ruling in the US that temporarily blocked her from promoting her book, which included several critical claims about her time at the company.

“[T]he false and defamatory book should never have been published,” Meta said at the time.

Wednesday’s hearing before members of the US Senate was led by Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri.

Sen Hawley opened the hearing by saying Meta had “stopped at absolutely nothing to prevent” Wednesday’s testimony by Ms Wynn-Williams, who joins Frances Haugen and Arturo Béjar as former employees who have spoken out against the social media giant.