Meta, in its efforts to enter the Chinese market, considered extreme measures to win the approval of the Chinese government. According to a whistleblower complaint by former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, Meta was willing to implement a censorship system to appease the Chinese Communist Party. This system, developed in 2015, would have given China control over social media content and allowed a “chief editor” to remove content deemed inappropriate. Additionally, the platform would have been shut down during times of social unrest, according to the complaint.
The whistleblower further alleges that Mark Zuckerberg and Meta executives pressured the company to agree to crack down on dissent. In one instance, Meta complied with the demands of a Chinese official to censor the account of a prominent dissident living in the United States. Wynn-Williams claims that Meta executives misled investors and regulators about the extent of their engagement with China. These actions were allegedly kept hidden, despite the company’s desire to enter the Chinese market and profit from the growing internet user base.
Internal documents shared by Wynn-Williams back up these claims, revealing Meta’s plans to host Chinese users’ data in local data centers. This would have made it easier for the Chinese government to access private information, which raised significant privacy concerns. Meta also secretly launched social apps under a China-based company in 2017, further showing the company’s attempt to bypass Chinese censorship while still operating in the country. This tactic was reportedly part of Meta’s strategy to gain approval and expand its presence in the Chinese market.
Meta, however, eventually decided not to fully pursue these strategies after backlash and regulatory scrutiny. Meta representatives have since denied these allegations, claiming that the company’s interest in China was well-known. They also stated that they ultimately decided not to implement the proposed censorship system. These revelations have brought attention to the ethical challenges tech companies face when operating internationally, particularly in countries with strict control over information and personal data.
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