Meta Gets Scorched in Congress Days Before Major Antitrust Trial Set to Open

Just days before the Federal Trade Commission’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Meta Platforms is set to begin in federal district court here, the company and its CEO were excoriated by senators from both sides of the aisle over its dealings with the Chinese government and Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged lack of candor with Congress.

“The truth is Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have lied to the American people, repeatedly. And I think as we’ll see today they have lied to Congress as well,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said in Wednesday’s hearing of the subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism, which he chairs. “It’s time for this to stop. That’s why this committee has launched a full-scale investigation into the potential illegal behavior of Facebook. Today’s hearing is one step in that investigation.”

The sole witness at the hearing was Sarah Wynn-Williams, former director of global public policy at Facebook (now Meta). Wynn-Williams authored a tell-all memoir of her time at Facebook that was released last month in which she detailed Meta’s secret cooperation with Chinese authorities to silence critics and dissidents, and Zuckerberg’s allegedly false testimony to Congress about those dealings.

Meta has gone to extraordinary lengths to silence Wynn-Williams, seeking to block the release of her book, “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, And Lost Idealism,” and securing a gag order from an arbiter to prevent her promoting the book under a non-disparagement agreement she signed upon leaving the company. The order also prohibits her from speaking publicly, including to Congress, about her time at Facebook working closely with Zuckerberg.

The timing of the hearing could not have been worse for Meta. The FTC is seeking to break up the $1.3 trillion company by forcing it to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which would severely impact its advertising revenue. The agency began investigating Meta’s acquisitions of its one-time rivals during the first Trump presidency and filed an antitrust lawsuit against it during the Biden Administration. The case is scheduled to go to trial on Monday, April 14^th.

Meta officials have been seeking desperately to get the case dismissed, or if not then to settle the lawsuit before trial. Zuckerberg himself has visited the White House at least three times since January to appeal directly to President Trump. He has also made a show of support for Trump, appearing on pro-Trump podcasts and eliminating many of Facebook’s content moderation policies that many Trump supporters had accused of censoring conservative voices.

Related: Antitrust Showdown: Meta Trial Proceeds Despite Trump-Zuckerberg Ties

Wynn-William’s book and Wednesday’s hearing, however, threw a harsh spotlight on Meta’s dealings with the Chinese Communist Party government just as Trump has launched an all-out trade war with China. The White House has slapped a 125% tariff on Chinese imports, and China has responded by placing an 84% tariff on U.S. goods. Given the tensions between the two countries, a move now by Trump to help Meta while its secret dealings with China are in the headlines would be awkward at best. It could also risk alienating Republican critics of Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill who already are wary of Trump’s tariff policies.

“Facebook/Meta issued a statement again last night saying that they don’t do business in China. Now, is that true, Facebook/Meta is not doing business in China? Is that accurate?” Hawley asked Wynn-Williams at the hearing.

“That is not accurate, Chairman Hawley,” Wynn-Williams replied. “Facebook has a $18.3 billion business in China.”

Hawley also pointedly asked the witness about Meta’s censorship of the Chinese dissident Guo Wengui.

“In 2017, Guo Wengui suddenly had his Facebook profile shut down. Now Facebook at first said that this was a temporary glitch. Was that true to your knowledge?” Hawley asked?

“No, Senator Hawley,” she said.

“In fact,” Hawley continued, “Facebook shut down this dissident’s page. This dissident, as you pointed out a moment ago, was living on American soil at the time, Facebook shut down that page based on pressure from the Chinese Communist Party. Is that accurate?”

“That’s accurate,” Wynn-Williams replied.

It was not a reply that is likely to aid Meta’s political situation on the eve of a trial that could dismantle its empire.