A former top executive at Meta testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday, alleging the company knowingly aided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in acquiring advanced U.S. technologies and data, while deceiving the American public and Congress about its operations in China.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, who served as Facebook’s (now Meta’s) Director of Global Public Policy from 2011 to 2017, told lawmakers that Meta executives provided the CCP with information about critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, beginning in 2015.
“These briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence – explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies,” Wynn-Williams said during her sworn testimony.
She also linked these briefings to current reports that China is developing AI models for military purposes based on Meta’s LLaMA model.
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According to Wynn-Williams, the initiative was known internally as “Project Aldrin.”
She claimed it was a confidential operation designed to break into the Chinese market, and that Meta’s cooperation with Beijing included building censorship tools and removing content at the CCP’s request.
Wynn-Williams stated that in 2015 Meta developed censorship software for the CCP. In 2017, she said the company complied with Chinese government demands to delete the account of Chinese dissident Guo Wengui, who was living in the United States.
She also alleged that Meta then misled Congress about the takedown during a Senate hearing.
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In her opening remarks, Wynn-Williams said, “Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion business in China.”
Wynn-Williams claimed that Meta gave the CCP access to user data, including the personal information of Americans.
She said Meta’s own internal documents confirmed the existence of a data pipeline between the U.S. and China, which would have allowed the CCP to intercept private user messages and information.
She noted that this access was only stopped when Congress intervened.
Meta has stated it does not operate services in China. However, Wynn-Williams countered that the company began offering products and services there as early as 2014, and that recent SEC filings show China is Meta’s second-largest market.
Wynn-Williams said Meta executives pitched access to the Chinese market by promoting how the company could “help China increase global influence and promote the China Dream,” citing language from internal documents.
In addition to submitting whistleblower complaints to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wynn-Williams filed a shareholder resolution asking Meta’s board to investigate its China operations.
She also said Meta retaliated against her with a lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars and a gag order that prevents her from speaking with Congress.
“This order is so expansive that it prohibits me from speaking with members of Congress,” she said.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) responded to her testimony by criticizing Meta for prioritizing profits over national security and user privacy.
“This is exactly contrary to what Facebook has represented for years,” Hawley said.
“Here they’re willing to build data centers [to] store data in China. They’re willing explicitly to give the Chinese government access to it. And if that means that American user data is also compromised, they’re willing to do that, too. All for profits in China. There was virtually nothing they weren’t willing to do.”
Senator Hawley questions Meta whistleblower:"Here, [Meta is] willing to build data centers, store data in China."They are willing explicitly to give the Chinese government access to it—& if that means American user data is also compromised, they're willing to do that." pic.twitter.com/dXjM3SQNay
— Senator Hawley Press Office (@SenHawleyPress) April 9, 2025
Wynn-Williams concluded her testimony by urging Congress to act.
“I am here at considerable personal risk because you have the power and the authority to hold them accountable,” she said.
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