A US Senate investigative subcommittee has initiated a review of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, regarding its attempts to gain access to the Chinese market, reported Reuters, citing a letter.
The committee has sought documents from the company as part of this inquiry.
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Senator Ron Johnson, the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley, questioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding allegations that the company developed censorship tools for the Chinese Communist Party in its efforts to penetrate the Chinese market, as outlined in the letter.
The senators have asked Meta to provide comprehensive records, including all communications and meeting notes with Chinese government officials dating back to 2014. They have set a deadline for this disclosure by 21 April 2025.
They referenced findings from the newly released book “Careless People,” authored by former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams. According to the book, in 2014, the company allegedly devised a “three-year plan” to penetrate the Chinese market, an initiative referred to as “Project Aldrin.”
The letter from the senators stated that “accounts are corroborated by internal records documenting these efforts reviewed by the Subcommittee.”
However, a Meta spokesperson dismissed these claims.
The company stated: “This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today. It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook’s effort to connect the world.
“We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we’d explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019.”
Blumenthal expressed that the matter raises significant concerns. “Chilling whistleblower documents reviewed by the Subcommittee paint a damning portrait of a company that would censor, conceal, and deceive, to obtain access to the Chinese market,” he said.
The letter has sought documentation concerning Facebook/Meta’s subsidiaries and partners in China, as well as information regarding the launch of various apps in the region, including Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout, Hyperlapse, and MSQRD. Additionally, the committee wants all communications that reference or pertain to “Project Aldrin.”
Furthermore, the letter sought records dating back to 2014 concerning any attempts to censor or remove content at the government’s behest, as well as information regarding a discontinued initiative to establish an undersea telecommunications cable linking California and Hong Kong.
