Careless People

Aware of the negative publicity that Facebook’s China policies might produce, management provided talking points for Zuckerberg’s testimony before the US Senate. Zuckerberg was coached to sidestep issues and be evasive. He stretched the truth to the point of misrepresentation. For example, he claimed that Facebook was using the same technology in China as elsewhere, but that was not true. He postponed concerns about China crossing red lines, saying that it would be dealt with when it happened. When a senator made a comparison to complicity with the Nazis, Zuckerberg called the comparison unfair. He lied about decisions already made to comply with Chinese censorship. After his testimony, “Facebook’s stock price [rose]” (320).

China took advantage of the negotiations with Facebook by requiring it “to shut down things they d[id]n’t like—including the free speech of activists living abroad” (324). For example, in April 2017, Facebook blocked critic Guo Wengui’s account. That September, a week after China blocked WhatsApp, Facebook permanently removed Guo’s account. Zuckerberg made this decision, caving in to the Chinese government.

In May 2017, Facebook launched two apps in China using shell companies. In doing so, Facebook violated Chinese law, as it stored data on servers outside of China.