A former Meta executive has alleged that the company cooperated with the Chinese government to suppress dissent—including in Taiwan—by developing censorship tools and sharing user data. Meta has strongly denied the claims, stating that it has never worked with Chinese authorities to censor Taiwanese content and remains committed to protecting freedom of expression and user privacy in Taiwan.
However, the company's public response has met with widespread skepticism among Taiwanese users, with many expressing distrust and frustration on Meta's own platform.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, former Global Public Policy Director at Facebook, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on April 9. She claimed that Meta executives provided user data—including that of American users—to Chinese authorities and collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build censorship tools. She also alleged in her book that Taiwanese users were among those affected by these efforts and accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of sharing a key trait with the CCP: silencing critics.
In response, Meta issued a public statement in Taiwan on May 2, addressing the accusations with three key points:
1. Meta has never complied with requests from the Chinese government to censor content from Taiwanese users.
2. Meta has never shared user information with the Chinese government or responded to any of its data requests.
3. The team responsible for moderating content from Taiwan has never been based in China.
The company emphasized that it complies with the U.S. Stored Communications Act, applying strict data protection policies to all users, including those in Taiwan.
To support culturally appropriate content moderation for Taiwan, Meta said it employs native Mandarin speakers familiar with traditional Chinese and Taiwanese culture. These moderators are based in countries outside of China. Meta reiterated that it has never operated a moderation team in Shanghai or any other Chinese city.
Still, Meta's reassurances have failed to win over many Taiwanese users. According to reactions to the May 2 statement on Facebook, 87% of users responded with "angry" or "laughing" emojis, while only 11% gave it a "thumbs up"—a sign of broad distrust toward the company's claims.
One user commented, "Strongly suggest setting up a tax entity and a Chinese-language operations HQ in Taiwan, and hiring local Taiwanese staff. That would clear up a lot of concerns."
Another asked, "Then tell us—who exactly is reviewing Taiwanese users' posts? Where is the office located?"
A third remarked, "Reels keeps recommending Chinese short videos, even though I haven't followed any Chinese pages. Ironically, people in China can't even use Facebook. So where is all this simplified Chinese content coming from?"
(Joseph Chen contributed to this story.)
Article edited by Joseph Chen
