Whistleblower reveals Meta's ties to Chinese authorities

A whistleblower from Meta testified before US senators on Wednesday, alleging that the company compromised national security to establish a USD 18 billion business in China.

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former global public policy director at Facebook, claimed during the congressional hearing that executives at the social media giant decided to grant the Chinese Communist Party access to user data, including information from American users.

Meta quickly rejected Wynn-Williams's claims, with spokesman Ryan Daniels stating, “Sarah Wynn-Williams' testimony is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims.” He acknowledged that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed interest in offering services in China but emphasized, “The fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today.” However, he noted that Meta does generate advertising revenue from Chinese advertisers.

During her testimony before a Senate judiciary subcommittee, Wynn-Williams alleged that Meta collaborated closely with Beijing to develop censorship tools designed to silence critics of the Chinese Communist Party. She pointed out that Meta complied with Chinese demands to remove the Facebook account of Guo Wengui, a Chinese dissident living in the US. In response, Meta stated that Guo's page was unpublished and his profile suspended for violating the company's Community Standards.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,” Wynn-Williams remarked during the hearing.

In March, she published a memoir titled "Careless People," detailing her experiences at the company. Following its release, Meta obtained an emergency ruling to temporarily block her from promoting the book, which includes critical claims about her tenure at Facebook. The company described the book as "false and defamatory."

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, led the Senate hearing and criticized Meta for allegedly attempting to prevent Wynn-Williams from testifying. “Why is it that Facebook is so desperate to prevent this witness from telling what she knows?” he asked.

In a previous January 2024 congressional hearing, Hawley demanded that Zuckerberg apologize to families who alleged that social media had harmed their children. At that hearing, families of individuals who had self-harmed or died by suicide due to social media content were present, prompting Zuckerberg to express sympathy, stating that “no one should go through” what they had.

During Wednesday's hearing, Hawley claimed that Meta had threatened Wynn-Williams with $50,000 in punitive damages for each public mention of Facebook, regardless of the truthfulness of her statements. “Even as we sit here today, Facebook is attempting her total and complete financial ruin,” he asserted.

Meta clarified to the BBC that the USD 50,000 damages pertain to each material violation of the separation agreement she signed upon leaving the company in 2017. Wynn-Williams contended that Meta indicated that creating exceptions to the non-disparagement agreement would “eat the rule,” a statement that Meta later clarified was made by an arbitrator, not the company itself.

While Meta stated that Wynn-Williams was not restricted from testifying before Congress, it did not respond directly to inquiries regarding potential financial penalties related to her statements during the hearing.

Wynn-Williams expressed the personal toll of the situation, stating, “The last four weeks have been very difficult. Even the choice to come and speak to Congress is incredibly difficult.”