BAD WEEK FOR META: Whistleblower Aftermath, Antitrust Trial Underway

Welcome back to The Dispatch from The Tech Oversight Project, your weekly updates on all things tech accountability. Follow us on Twitter at @Tech_Oversight and @techoversight.bsky.social on Bluesky.

“WHAT IS IT THEY ARE SO AFRAID OF?” NOW WE KNOW. Last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Sarah Wynn-Williams, the only senior executive from the company to come forward as a whistleblower, was DEVASTATING for Meta. Wynn-Williams laid bare how Mark Zuckerberg and senior executives at Meta had lied to Congress in order to conceal its cozy relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As Sen. Chuck Grassley put it, “The Chinese didn’t have to infiltrate Facebook, Facebook went to China” — and Meta did it all (per Wynn-Williams) “to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion business in China.”

⏩ Getting up to speed: Wynn-Williams’s new book, Careless People, brought new evidence to light showing how Meta colluded with the CCP to undermine the U.S. economy and national security.

Meta’s response? Notably, they did not deny any of the findings, but they did unleash lawfare on Wynn-Williams to try and cover up the damning details.

The result? Careless People became a smash hit, surging up the best-seller charts, but this isn’t just a case study on the Streisand Effect. Wynn-Williams brought new evidence to light, and she came with receipts: internal emails, meeting notes, and Meta policy documents — all now part of the official record. No wonder Meta had tried to stop her from testifying and is still threatening her with financial ruin. Some of what she revealed:

• Meta shared key AI research and technology with the CCP as early as 2015. What Meta handed over has directly led to AI weapons and tools used by China’s military, and it directly helped create DeepSeek — the state-of-the-art Chinese AI platform, based on Meta’s Llama model.
• Meta silenced a Chinese dissident living in the United States at the CCP’s request, and then lied about it to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
• Despite being under FTC consent decrees, Meta repeatedly violated its promises on user data and foreign influence — exactly the kinds of actions those decrees were meant to prevent. Meta security engineers raised concerns — and they were brushed aside.

And through all of it, she said, “Meta executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public.”

Sen. Josh Hawley has already followed up with a formal letter to Meta demanding answers — and calling on Mark Zuckerberg to explain himself in person and under oath. Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Zuckerberg: “[H]e said he’s turned over a new leaf. My response to that was, leaves change color with the seasons of the year.”

“Look, the greatest trick Mark Zuckerberg ever pulled was wrapping the American flag around himself and calling himself a patriot and saying he didn't offer services in China while he spent the last decade building an $18 billion business there."

— Sarah Wynn-Williams

⚖️ META HEADS TO COURT: Meta’s long-awaited antitrust trial got underway yesterday, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The FTC is seeking to unwind Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, arguing they were illegal moves to eliminate competition before it could challenge Facebook’s dominance. This could be the first major breakup of a tech giant since AT&T — and a seismic shift in how the government checks monopoly power in Silicon Valley.

A long time coming: This case dates back over six years, when the FTC — after coordinating with state attorneys general and antitrust experts — mapped out the best legal strategy to take on Meta’s obviously anti-competitive acquisitions. Those deals drew heavy criticism even at the time; now they’re finally getting their day in court.

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have spent months driving home a “pick-me” strategy based on kissing up to Trump in the hopes of stopping the trial from moving forward. Well, time’s up. This trial will shine a light on internal Meta documents showing how the company broke the law by deliberately neutralizing nascent competitors in Instagram and WhatsApp. The case is a referendum not just on Meta’s past, but on Big Tech’s future — specifically, whether the giants can keep buying their way out of consequences. Stay tuned.

“CRUSHING COMPETITION, KILLING SMALL BUSINESSES, AND RIPPING PEOPLE OFF”: Reps. Angie Craig, Chris Deluzio, Pramila Jayapal, and Pat Ryan are teaming up to put ordinary people ahead of giant corporations, as co-chairs of the new “Monopoly Busters Caucus.” Jayapal: 📹“We are here today to stand up for a pro-worker, pro-consumer, pro-small business economy that puts people first over corporate greed and monopolies.”

They and the other nine founding members represent a spectrum of Democratic points of view — Jayapal and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are standard-bearers for the progressive left, several others represent swing districts, and Democratic power broker Jerry Nadler is on the list, too. Jayapal: “We believe that across the aisle, we can fight corporate power, and we can win.” Just more evidence that, as Zephyr Teachout put it, “antimonopoly doesn’t fit on the old spectrum”: antitrust enforcement is a winning issue across the board.

Watch the press conference here.

Bloomberg: Tech Risks Pile Up as ‘Treacherous’ Antitrust Looms Over Stocks

Big Tech CEOs are some of the most unpopular figures in American life — and it’s not just because people are jealous of their wealth and influence. It’s because they’ve been playing fast and loose with antitrust laws for years. Now they’re having to face the music, and the markets are noticing. The tech giants, expected a hands-off antitrust approach from the Trump administration this time, but that’s not what they’re getting. From Meta’s predatory acquisitions to Amazon’s market manipulation, these companies aren’t just big — they’re lawbreakers. This time around, court-ordered breakups might actually happen.

💰 THE GENIUS ACT: STILL DUMB — AND DANGEROUS: Big Tech CEOs are still convincing Congressional Republicans to fast-track the GENIUS Act and its House twin, the STABLE Act — bills that would give Big Tech the green light to launch their own private currencies. This push isn’t just a minor change in crypto law. It’s a massive gift to the world’s richest men — weakening the U.S. dollar, endangering our economy, and likely to raise prices on Americans in the process. And “it has not reached most people’s radar that its biggest beneficiary is likely to be large tech platforms,” says American University law professor Hilary Allen.

So, let’s set the record straight: Ripping down the firewall between banking and Big Tech would let X, Amazon, Meta, and Apple mint their own money, extract junk fees, and spy on every transaction you make. If the bills pass, Arthur Wilmarth, a GWU law professor, says, “I think it will be almost impossible to ever close the door again.” Congress should be fighting Big Tech scams, not legalizing them.

📱NEBRASKA’S KIDS’ SAFETY PUSH ADVANCES: Last week, Nebraska’s legislature advanced the state’s Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act (LB 504) through a critical vote, bringing the state inches away from passing landmark bipartisan protections for kids online. The bill, introduced by GOP State Sen. Carolyn Bosn at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, who proudly touted last week’s resounding passage – shows holding Big Tech companies accountable for kids’ wellbeing is a priority that transcends partisan politicking.

In floor remarks to her colleagues about the bill, Sen. Bosn, took direct aim at the companies, saying: “They're not selling a product. You get nothing tangibly out of spending time on these platforms. They are profiting off of your being there by selling your data.” Citing rising rates of depression, anxiety, bullying, and suicide among young people, she made an impassioned plea: “This is the time to stand up for our kids.”

Nebraska’s bill is a model for how Republicans and Democrats can come together to take real action on the mental health crisis driven by social media. With states of every political makeup all across the country demanding strong, meaningful regulation, it’s clear the tide continues to turn against Big Tech’s negligence when it comes to youth online safety and data protections.