A Meta whistleblower is ready to testify earlier than Congress about how she witnessed the corporate “undermine U.S. national security,” in accordance with a report.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook worker who launched an explosive memoir final month accusing the social media big of retaliating in opposition to her after she reported sexual misconduct, is ready to testify earlier than the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism Wednesday with one other revelatory allegation: the corporate was engaged in “illegal and dangerous activities” with China.
Wynn-Williams labored at Facebook for seven years, beginning in 2011. As director of worldwide public coverage, she labored carefully with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg. Throughout her tenure, she noticed firm executives “undermine U.S. national security” and mentioned they “lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress and the American public,” her introductory assertion, obtained by NBC News, states.
A Meta spokesperson slammed her deliberate remarks as being “divorced from reality and riddled with false claims” in an announcement shared with The Independent. “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.”
Wynn-Williams plans to testify that she noticed executives working “‘hand in glove’” with the Chinese Communist Party to assemble and check custom-built censorship instruments that silenced and censored their critics.”
The whistleblower additionally plans to testify that Meta supplied China with entry to customers’ knowledge, together with that of Americans.
“Meta has been willing to compromise its values, sacrifice the security of its users, and undermine American interests to build its China business. It’s been happening for years, covered up by lies, and continues to this day,” she plans to inform the subcommittee.
Meta started providing services in China as early as 2014, she claims. The tech big constructed a “physical pipeline” connecting the United States and China that may have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to intercept Americans’ private knowledge.
“The only reason China does not currently have access to U.S. user data through this pipeline is because Congress stepped in,” she plans to say.
The following 12 months, the corporate began briefing the Chinese Communist Party. These briefings included discussions round vital rising applied sciences, together with AI, with the “explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies,” in accordance with her assertion.
“There’s a straight line you can draw from these briefings to the recent revelations that China is developing AI models for military use, relying on Meta’s Llama model,” she plans to testify. “Meta’s internal documents describe their sales pitch for why China should allow them in the market by quote ‘help[ing] China increase global influence and promote the China Dream.’”
In her guide Careless People, Wynn-Williams accused the tech big of firing her in 2017 after she filed a sexual harassment criticism in opposition to her boss Joel Kaplan, who was then-vice president for world public coverage.
Meta beforehand instructed The Independent in an announcement that she was fired for “poor performance and toxic behavior” and famous that an investigation into the incident decided that she made “misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment.” Kaplan now serves as chief world affairs officer.
After her memoir was printed in March, Meta sought to forestall her from additional selling the guide, claiming that the allegations violated a non-disparagement clause in her severance settlement.
The firm described Wynn-Williams’ allegations detailed in her memoir as “a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives.”
A authorized consultant for Wynn-Williams shared an announcement with The Independent final month: “Meta has made a number of false and inconsistent statements about Sarah since the news of her memoir broke. The events that led to her departure from Meta are described in detail in the memoir, and while Meta’s statements are trying to mislead the public, the book speaks for itself.”
One day after the tech big filed an arbitration demand, an arbitrator briefly prohibited her from amplifying or repeating “disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments.”
In her ready remarks, Wynn-Williams described the block as a “legal gag order” that features chatting with lawmakers. Still, she plans to say, “I am here at considerable personal risk because you have the power and the authority to hold them accountable.”
In his March 12 arbitration resolution, the arbitrator clarified that the order didn’t forestall Wynn-Williams from “giving any testimony” or “cooperating” with a authorities company throughout its investigation. There was by no means any prohibition on her testifying to Congress, Meta has mentioned.
The Independent has reached out to a consultant for Wynn-Williams for clarification.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/facebook-whistleblower-testify-meta-zuckerberg-b2730365.html