Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress after a former Facebook employee alleged the company repeatedly undermined U.S. national security.
“The American people deserve to know the truth about your company,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Zuckerberg on Thursday, adding, “The public deserves to hear your response to these serious allegations, particularly since they pertain to American national security.”
Hawley requested Zuckerberg testify before the Senate Judiciary Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee in an upcoming hearing titled “A Time for Truth, Part II: Oversight of Meta’s Foreign Relations and Representations to the United States.”
The letter came one day after the same subcommittee heard from Sarah Wynn-Williams, the former director of global public policy at Facebook, who told lawmakers Meta executives repeatedly “betray[ed] American values” during her seven years at the company.
Wynn-Williams accused Meta executives of working to “win favor” with leaders in Beijing to build an $18 billion business in China.
“Company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress and the American public,” she told the subcommittee, chaired by Hawley.
The former Facebook employee claimed Meta executives provided the Chinese Communist Party with access to user data, including that of Americans, and went as far to claim Meta’s artificial intelligence model contributed to the success of Chinese technologies like AI startup DeepSeek.
The Hill reached out to Meta for further comment on Hawley’s letter.
Meta has pushed back on Wynn-Williams’s testimony, maintaining Zuckerberg has been public about the company’s services in China.
“The fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today,” Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels told The Hill on Wednesday.
Meta said it regularly discloses the fact it generates advertising revenue from Chinese-based advertisers, but this does not mean it operates services in China.
Hawley claimed Meta tried “desperately to prevent” him from holding the hearing where Wynn-Williams testified.
“They have threatened her with $50,000 in punitive damages every time she mentions Facebook in public … even if the statements she is making are true,” he said. “Facebook is attempting her total and complete financial ruin. They’re attempting to destroy her personally, they’re attempting to destroy her reputation, and I think the question is, ‘Why?’”
Wynn-Williams has gained national attention in recent weeks following the release of her memoir, “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Green and Lost Idealism.”
The memoir details Meta’s relationship with China along with claims of sexual harassment by her former boss at the company.
The book was widely popular, reaching the top 10 on Amazon bestseller list despite efforts by Meta to halt sales of the memoir.
