Sen. Josh Hawley asked Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday to testify before Congress in response to whistleblower allegations that he “sold out our country’s security for China profits.”
The request from Hawley (R-Mo.) followed bombshell testimony from Sarah Wynn-Williams – a former Facebook policy executive who said Wednesday she witnessed Zuckerberg and other top brass lie to Congress and “repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values” in a failed effort to appease Beijing and gain access to the Chinese market.
“The public deserves to hear your response to these serious allegations, particularly since they pertain to American national security,” Hawley said in a letter addressed to Zuckerberg.
Hawley said his Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee wanted Zuckerberg to testify under oath at a second hearing about Wynn-Williams’ allegations and said his office would work with Meta to “find a suitable time and date” for the appearance.
Meta did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on Hawley’s letter.
Meta’s attempts to enter China ultimately failed and Zuckerberg abandoned plans to offer Facebook and Instagram in 2019 – but the company still earns $18 billion per year through ad sales to Chinese firms.
Wynn-Williams’ testimony was peppered with explosive claims about Meta’s alleged efforts to gain access to China as part of a top-secret internal initiative called “Project Aldrin.” She also detailed her six-year stint at Meta from 2011 to 2017 in the scathing memoir “Careless People.”
The whistleblower alleged that Meta brass provided briefings to the Chinese Communist Party on sensitive technology, including artificial intelligence, with an “explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies.”
Wynn-Williams said Meta saw the briefings as part of a “value proposition” to convince China to allow its products. She said her claims are backed up by documentary evidence that she has provided to Congressional investigators, including internal chat logs from top executives that were discussed at the hearing.
Hawley demanded that Zuckerberg respond to that allegation, as well as separate claims that Meta created censorship tools at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party – which exposed users in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as putting the data of Americans at risk.
The Senate also wants Meta’s response to allegations that Meta agreed to block accounts in 2017 operated by Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese billionaire and dissident, after facing pressure from China.
“Her testimony was filled with explosive allegations about your company’s willingness to jeopardize American national interests, betray American users and Chinese dissidents alike, and lie about it to Congress,” Hawley wrote.
Hawley said that Meta had “lied directly to Congress” during a 2017 hearing in which a top executive said it took action against the account through regular processes and denied any interference by China.
Hawley recently told The Post in an exclusive interview that Wynn-Williams testimony would be a crucial litmus test to determine if and when Meta executives had lied to Congress during past hearings.
Meta has strenuously denied Wynn-Williams’ allegations.
“Sarah Wynn-Williams’ testimony is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement responding to her claims.
“While Mark Zuckerberg himself was public about our interest in offering our services in China and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago, the fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today.”
A company spokesperson previously said that Meta took action against Guo’s account because it had improperly shared sensitive data, included passport numbers, social security numbers and home addresses, in violation of its policies.
Meta scrambled to block Wynn-Williams’ memoir from gaining the public’s attention – and obtained an arbitration order barring her from promoting or publicly discussing the book.
Multiple senators, including Hawley, blasted Meta for attempting to muzzle Wynn-Williams – who testified that she faces $50,000 in damages for every public mention.
“The greatest trick Mark Zuckerberg ever pulled was wrapping the American flag around himself and calling himself a patriot and saying he didn’t offer services in China while he spent the last decade building an $18 billion business there,” Wynn-Williams said.
Meta has said that figure is from the separation agreement that Wynn-Williams signed when she left the company in 2017 and applies to any breach of contract, not just non-disparagement.
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