The Book by employee Facebook terminated 8 years ago may have done the 'damage' as Mark Zuckerberg's 'China link' under scanner

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is facing scrutiny following allegations in a memoir by ex-Meta employee Sarah Wynn-Williams . The book claims the Meta CEO pursued access to the Chinese market by developing censorship technology and bolstering AI capabilities, while allegedly keeping these initiatives hidden from US lawmakers. Based on these claims, a US Senate investigative subcommittee has launched a review and is demanding relevant documents from the social media giant.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley joined Johnson in sending a letter to Zuckerberg requesting the disclosure of company communications and meeting records with Chinese government officials dating back to 2014. The deadline for Meta's response is April 21.

The senators’ letter specifically requests records related to Meta's subsidiaries and partners in China, the launch of apps like Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout, Hyperlapse, and MSQRD in China, and all communications concerning " Project Aldrin ."

Additionally, they are seeking records since 2014 pertaining to any efforts to censor content at the Chinese government's request, as well as information about a discontinued plan to establish an undersea telecommunications cable between California and Hong Kong.

Senators say ‘accounts are corroborated by internal records’
The senators cited claims from Sarah Wynn-Williams' recently published book, "Careless People," which alleges that Meta, then Facebook, devised “Project Aldrin,” a “three-year plan” in 2014 to gain access to the Chinese market.

The senate letter asserts that “accounts are corroborated by internal records documenting these efforts reviewed by the Subcommittee.”

A Meta spokesperson dismissed the allegations, stating, “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.”

However, Senator Blumenthal expressed serious concerns, stating, “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.”