Silke Mayr A former top Meta executive says the company gave Chinese officials access to user data to grow its business. Her claims raise new concerns about data safety and global privacy.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, once Facebook’s global public policy director, testified before U.S. lawmakers this week. She said Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, knowingly allowed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to access private user data. This includes data from U.S. and global users.
Wynn-Williams said the company shared this information to expand its operations in China. Meta currently earns about $18 billion from its China-related business, mostly through advertising from Chinese companies.
Meta strongly denied her claims. The company said it does not run services in China and has not given away user data.
Meta Rejects Claims of Data Sharing
Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels pushed back on the accusations. He said Wynn-Williams’ statements were “detached from reality” and “spread misinformation.” He added that while Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had spoken about entering the Chinese market in the past, the company does not currently operate there.
Still, Meta profits from ads purchased by companies that do business in China. These companies use Meta’s global ad network to reach customers around the world.
Alleged Work with China on Censorship Tools
Wynn-Williams also said Meta worked closely with Chinese officials to create tools that silence critics of the regime. She cited the removal of a Facebook account belonging to Guo Wengui, a known Chinese dissident.
She claimed the account was deleted at the request of the Chinese government. Meta, however, said the profile was removed for breaking its own content rules.
“Mark Zuckerberg and the Chinese Communist Party both suppress opposition voices. I experienced that directly,” Wynn-Williams told the Senate panel.
She recently published a book called Careless People, where she shares more about her time at the company. However, a U.S. court has temporarily stopped her from promoting the book, due to concerns about its content.
Meta says the book includes false and harmful claims and should not have been published.
Senate Hearing Raises Questions of Corporate Control
Senator Josh Hawley led the Senate hearing on Wednesday. He accused Meta of trying to stop Wynn-Williams from speaking out.
“Why is Meta so determined to stop her from revealing the truth?” Hawley asked during the session.
In January 2024, Hawley had already challenged Zuckerberg over social media’s harmful impact, during a meeting with families affected by online content. At that time, Zuckerberg said no family should have to suffer such losses.
Now, Hawley claims Meta threatened Wynn-Williams with fines of $50,000 for every time she publicly mentions Facebook. “They aim to financially destroy her for telling the truth—even if her words are accurate,” he said.
Meta responded that the fines apply to a legal agreement Wynn-Williams signed in 2017 when she left the company. The agreement includes a non-disparagement clause.
Legal Pressure and Personal Cost
Wynn-Williams said Meta warned her against speaking out. But she also explained that the warning came from an arbitrator, not from Meta directly.
The company said she was free to testify before Congress. Still, it did not confirm whether she could face legal consequences afterward.
“The past month has been extremely challenging,” she said in her closing remarks to the Senate. “Deciding to testify here today has been one of the hardest choices I’ve ever made.”