The landscape of the internet and social media in China is heavily influenced by government censorship, which targets and eliminates any content considered contradictory to state policies. This stringent control is one reason why platforms like Facebook and Instagram have struggled to penetrate the Chinese market, as they would face significant barriers due to such excessive regulations.
Despite this, Meta (formerly Facebook) reportedly expressed a strong interest in entering the Chinese arena, even considering the idea of sharing user data with the government and implementing a rigorous censorship system. Details about this initiative emerged through a whistleblower complaint, which included internal communications and documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
Filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Director of Public Policy at Facebook, the 78-page complaint alleges that the tech giant designed a censorship system to cater to Chinese authorities in hopes of launching its platform within the country.
What was Project Aldrin?
According to reports, Meta, under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, also intended to appoint a “chief editor” responsible for determining which content would be removed and had the power to shut down the site entirely during periods of civil unrest. In fact, a dedicated team was formed specifically for this initiative, which was internally dubbed “Aldrin.”
Beyond establishing a censorship framework, Meta was prepared to suppress dissent against the Chinese government. The complaint indicates that Zuckerberg consented to restrict the account of a prominent Chinese dissident residing in the U.S. after being pressured by a senior Chinese official who the company hoped would assist their market entry.
Moreover, the company considered relaxing its privacy standards to allow Chinese authorities access to data involving users in China and Hong Kong. Plans for this project began in 2014 but were ultimately scrapped in 2019 amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between the United States and China.
Meta is not the only company that has harbored such aspirations. In 2018, Google was reportedly developing a censored version of its search engine, known as “Project Dragonfly,” although this initiative was eventually shelved. Now, as of 2025, the focus has shifted to artificial intelligence, with the realities of Chinese censorship becoming evident in projects like the DeepSeek open-source AI model.
