US senators probe Mark Zuckerberg over alleged China censorship push

April 2, 2025

Facebookfounder and Meta’s chief executiveMark Zuckerbergis under scrutiny following allegations in a memoir by formerMetaexecutiveSarah Wynn-Williams. The book claims that Zuckerberg sought access to the Chinese market by developing censorship technology and advancingartificial intelligence(AI) capabilities while allegedly concealing these efforts from US lawmakers.

A US Senate investigative subcommittee has launched a review and is seeking documents from the social media giant, as reported by Reuters.

The report added that senators Ron Johnson, Richard Blumenthal, and Josh Hawley have written to Zuckerberg, demanding records of company communications and meetings with Chinese government officials since 2014. Meta has until April 21 to respond.

The senators have requested records on Meta’s China-related partnerships; its launch of applications such as Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout, Hyperlapse, and MSQRD in China, and all communications regarding “Project Aldrin.” They have also sought information about any censorship efforts at the Chinese government’s request and a discontinued plan for an undersea telecommunications cable between California and Hong Kong.

Wynn-Williams’ book, Careless People, alleges that Meta, then Facebook, devised “Project Aldrin” as a “three-year plan” in 2014 to enter the Chinese market. The Senate letter states that “accounts are corroborated by internal records documenting these efforts.”

A Meta spokesperson dismissed the claims and told Reuters, “This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today. We ultimately opted not to pursue the ideas we explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019.”