US Senate committee probes into Meta’s efforts to gain access to China

A U.S. Senate investigative subcommittee opened a review into efforts by Facebook parent Meta Platforms to gain access to the Chinese market and is seeking documents from the company. Meta was questioned about allegations that it worked to build censorship tools for the Chinese Communist Party as part of its attempt to gain entry to the Chinese market. The senators want Meta to disclose extensive records including all company communications with Chinese government officials since 2014.

The investigation seeks documents detailing Meta's communications with Chinese government officials since 2014, including records related to "Project Aldrin," a purported initiative to develop censorship tools for the Chinese Communist Party.

This inquiry stems from allegations presented in Sarah Wynn-Williams' book, "Careless People," which claims that Meta, in 2014, devised a "three-year plan" to access China, involving the creation of censorship mechanisms favorable to the Chinese government. Senators Ron Johnson, Richard Blumenthal, and Josh Hawley have requested that Meta provide the specified documents by April 21, 2025.

Meta, on its part has refuted these allegations, stating that they do not operate in China and that any prior considerations to enter the market were abandoned by 2019. The company attributes the claims to a former employee terminated for performance issues and maintains that the allegations are outdated or unfounded.

"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," the company said. "We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019."