WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate

investigative subcommittee on Tuesday opened a review into

efforts by Facebook parent Meta Platforms ( META ) to gain

access to the Chinese market and is seeking documents from the

company.

Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee

on Investigations, joined by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top

Democrat, and Senator Josh Hawley, asked Meta CEO Mark

Zuckerberg about allegations that it worked to build censorship

tools for the Chinese Communist Party as part of its attempt to

gain entry to the Chinese market, according to a letter seen by

Reuters.

The senators want Meta to disclose extensive records

including all company communications or records of meetings with

Chinese government officials since 2014. They want Meta to do

this by April 21.

The senators cited reports in the recently published book

"Careless People," by former Facebook executive Sarah

Wynn-Williams, that in 2014 the company allegedly developed a

"three-year plan" to gain access to the Chinese market. The

initiative was code-named "Project Aldrin," the book said.

The senators' letter said the "accounts are corroborated by

internal records documenting these efforts reviewed by the

Subcommittee."

A Meta spokesperson rejected the claims.

"This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years

ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in

China today. It is no secret we were once interested in doing so

as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world," the company

said. "We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd

explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019."

Blumenthal said the issue raises serious concerns. "Chilling

whistleblower documents reviewed by the Subcommittee paint a

damning portrait of a company that would censor, conceal, and

deceive, to obtain access to the Chinese market," he said.

The letter seeks records related to Facebook/Meta's

subsidiaries and partners in China and to its launch of apps in

China, including Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout,

Hyperlapse and MSQRD, and all communications referring or

relating to "Project Aldrin."

The letter also seeks records since 2014 "relating to any effort

to censor or otherwise remove content at the government's

request" and about an abandoned effort to connect an undersea

telecommunications cable between California and Hong Kong.