WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced an investigation into Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta) for its alleged work to censor and provide artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including surveillance software, for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In a letter sent yesterday to Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, the senators demanded all records and communications pertaining to Meta’s operations within China, including the potential use of AI models developed by or in collaboration with the CCP. 

Citing internal documents received by the subcommittee, “Facebook’s plan reportedly included more engagement with the CCP, and later included plans to partner with a Chinese company to build censorship tools and provide the CCP with user data. Further, Facebook’s censorship efforts on behalf of the CCP allegedly extended to dissidents outside of China, including in the United States,” the senators wrote.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

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