Whistleblower to allege in Congress she saw Facebook "undermine U.S. national security"

BySareen Habeshian
 
Whistleblower to allege in Congress she saw Facebook "undermine U.S. national security"
Mark Zuckerberg on Jan. 31, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism on Wednesday.

The big picture: The former global public policy director at Facebook, now Meta, will allege that Facebook cooperated with China's ruling Communist Party, per her opening testimony, as seen by Axios.

  • Wynn-Williams' bestselling memoir on her negative experience of working for the tech giant from 2011-2017 was published last month. Meta obtained an emergency ruling blocking her from promoting the book.

What she's saying: "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values," the prepared opening testimony of Wynn-Williams reads.

  • "They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China," the former New Zealand diplomat will say.
  • "During my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," per the opening testimony.
  • Wynn-Williams will say she's appearing before the committee "to set the record straight about these illegal and dangerous activities," per the prepared testimony.

The other side: Meta spokesperson Andy Stone in a Tuesday evening emailed statement called the testimony "divorced from reality and riddled with false claims."

  • He added: "While [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg himself was public about our interest in offering our services in China and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago, the fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today."

Thought bubble via Axios' Maria Curi: TikTok has faced scrutiny over its ties to Beijing, but this whistleblower's testimony shows U.S. tech companies are also coming under fire for potential national security threats.

  • While Zuckerberg has tried to get in President Trump's good graces, Republicans on Capitol Hill are not backing down and he continues to face scrutiny at the Federal Trade Commission.

Read Sarah Wynn-Williams introductory statement in full via, DocumentCloud:

Go deeper: Zuckerberg gets closer to D.C. (subscription)