Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook executive, is set to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today, claiming that Meta executives undermined U.S. national security and briefed Chinese officials on emerging technologies like AI.
NBC News reports that Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former director of global public policy at Facebook, is expected to deliver scathing testimony against her former employer. According to her prepared remarks, obtained by NBC News, Wynn-Williams will allege that Meta executives “lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public.” Wynn-Williams made many of the same charges when she initially went public in March.
Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, claims she witnessed “Meta executives repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values” in an effort to “win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China.” Her testimony comes a month after the publication of her memoir, Careless People, which included allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment at the company.
Meta has strongly disputed Wynn-Williams’ account, with a spokesperson calling her testimony “divorced from reality and riddled with false claims.” The company maintains that while they had previously expressed interest in offering services in China, they do not currently operate there.
The hearing, chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a vocal critic of major tech platforms, underscores the ongoing scrutiny Meta faces in Washington, despite recent efforts by the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to align more closely with the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.
Wynn-Williams is expected to provide details about “Project Aldrin,” an alleged secret mission by Facebook to enter the Chinese market. She claims that Meta planned to build a “physical pipeline” connecting the United States and China, which could potentially provide backdoor access to the Chinese Communist Party, allowing them to intercept the personal data and private messages of American citizens.
Furthermore, Wynn-Williams will testify that Meta began briefing Chinese officials as early as 2015, focusing on critical emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. She alleges that the goal was to help China outcompete American companies, drawing a connection between these briefings and recent revelations that China is developing AI models for military use, relying on Meta’s Llama model.
The hearing comes at a crucial time for Meta, as the company prepares for a major antitrust trial against the FTC next week. The outcome of the trial could potentially lead to the breakup of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Despite an interim decision from an arbitrator ordering Wynn-Williams to cease promoting her book and retract claims deemed “disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental,” she has chosen to testify, stating that “the American people deserve to know the truth.”
Read more at NBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
