San Francisco: A former global policy director at Meta, Sarah Wynn-Williams, has filed a whistleblower complaint accusing the company of censoring content and suppressing dissent to gain approval from the Chinese Communist Party and expand Facebook in China.

According to Anadolu Agency, in 2015, Meta (formerly Facebook) created a censorship system, which included plans for a “chief editor” to manage content and potentially shut down the site during “social unrest.” The complaint reviewed by the Post claims that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed to block the account of a Chinese opposition figure after a Chinese official pressured him to help the company enter China.

The complaint alleges that Meta misled investors and regulators about its efforts in China, with Wynn-Williams supporting the allegations with internal documents. A memo in the complaint suggests that Chinese officials urged Meta to store user data locally, which would allow the Communist Party access to personal information. Katitza Rodriguez from the Electronic Frontier Foundation highlighted that data control in authoritarian countries like China facilitates “censorship, surveillance, and repression.”

Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, in a post on Threads, asserted that the company would work with ‘the Administration to maintain the US at the forefront of AI and ensure the global AI standard is based on our shared values, not China’s.’ Despite this, Wynn-Williams claimed that Meta collaborated closely with the Chinese Communist Party, sharing technology developments and misleading the public.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone stated that the company’s interest in China was well-known and that it ultimately abandoned its plans in 2019. Meta, eager to expand in China, formed a “China team” in 2014 to develop a version of its services compliant with local regulations. By 2015, the company was negotiating with Chinese officials, considering relaxing privacy protections for Hong Kong users for market access.

In 2017, Meta restricted the account of Chinese government critic Guo Wengui under pressure from Chinese authorities. By 2019, Meta abandoned its ambitions in China. Amid growing US-China tensions, Meta is positioning itself to benefit from a potential US TikTok ban, with Zuckerberg noting, “They are one of our main competitors.”