From “The Browne Report”
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Meta insider turned whistleblower, has accused Meta of aiding China’s AI dominance by supplying its Llama model, built for $6 million, to advance Beijing’s military ambitions. She claims Mark Zuckerberg’s $1.3 trillion empire lied to Congress, betrayed U.S. security, and earned $18 billion in China while cozying up to Trump to deflect scrutiny. Backed by 2017 chats showing Meta silenced dissident Guo Wengui under CCP pressure and violated a 2012 FTC privacy decree, Wynn-Williams faces Meta’s $50,000 fines per public mention of “Facebook” from her exit deal. Senators Josh Hawley, Chuck Grassley, and Richard Blumenthal slammed Meta’s “abusive” tactics and “disgusting” hypocrisy, with Hawley vowing a full investigation.
Meta is bracing for a critical antitrust battle with the U.S. government, which could dismantle Zuckerberg’s empire by forcing a divestiture of Instagram. Generating $32 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2024, nearly half of Meta’s total. The FTC, led by Lina Khan, alleges Meta violated the Sherman Act by acquiring Instagram, WhatsApp, Onavo, and Eyegroove to crush competition and dominate online advertising, using Onavo’s surveillance to neutralize threats like Snapchat. Meta denies being a monopolist, citing rivalry with TikTok and YouTube, Trump hating Judge James Boasberg has not signaled support for the FTC’s case, despite Zuckerberg’s alleged 2008 email favoring buying over competing. In 2022, as Facebook’s popularity waned, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg floated a bold idea to boost the platform’s cultural relevance, resetting users’ friend networks and having them rebuild from scratch.
Signs of desperation. The antitrust crackdown echoes across Big Tech, with Google labeled a monopolist in 2023 and 2024, now facing remedies like losing Chrome, while Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft brace for scrutiny. Meta’s acquisitions, projected to drive Instagram past 50% of its ad revenue by 2025, fuel claims it stifled competition. Meanwhile, Wynn-Williams’ revelations cast Meta as a traitor in the AI arms race, prioritizing global power over U.S. interests. Something has got to give.