Meta has notched an early victory in its attempt to halt a surprise tell-all memoir from a former policy executive turned whistleblower. An arbitrator has sided with the social media company, saying that the book’s author should stop selling and publicizing the book, which went on sale earlier this week.
The drama stems from Careless People, a new book by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former policy official at Facebook who Meta says was fired in 2017. Described by its publisher as an “explosive insider account,” Wynn-Williams reveals some new details about Mark Zuckerberg’s push to bring Facebook to China a decade ago. She also alleges that Meta’s current policy chief, Joel Kaplan, acted inappropriately, and reveals embarrassing details about Zuckerberg’s awkward encounters with world leaders
The book was only announced last week, and Meta has waged a forceful PR campaign against it, calling it a “new book of old news.” Numerous former employees have publicly disputed Wynn-Williams’ account of events that transpired while she worked at Facebook.
Meta also filed an emergency motion with an arbitrator in an attempt to block the book, arguing that Wynn-Williams had violated a non-disparagement agreement with the company. In a decision, the arbitrator said that she should immediat
17 Comments
redeux
Not just promoting but:
> to the extent within Respondent Wynn-Williams' control, from further publishing or distributing Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, including with respect to electronic and audio versions of the book;
https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arbitration-…
defrost
Alternative title:
Meta promotes new book about Barbra Streisand's Beach House
cratermoon
freeze peach amirite?
jameskilton
I wasn't planning on buying the book but …
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250391237?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DE…
whatever1
That explains why after Zuck started calling for return of masculinity to the workplace, the former accused exec immediately sided with him. It's all tit for tat.
segmondy
I saw about the book earlier, didn't care about reading it. Then I saw about the arbitration on the news and immediately ordered a copy.
anon373839
> From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.
Hell of a pitch. I'll buy.
light_triad
Meta is starting to have a whistleblower problem:
– Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025)
– Arturo Bejar (2023)
– Frances Haugen (2021)
– Sophie Zhang (2020)
– Chris Hughes, Co-Founder (2019)
– Roger McNamee, Investor (2019)
– Christopher Wylie (2018)
– Alex Stamos, ex-CSO (2018)
– Brian Acton, Co-Founder WhatsApp (2017)
– Sean Parker, ex-President (2017)
– Chamath Palihapitiya (2017)
– Justin Rosenstein (2017)
Ex-Meta executive: ‘People deserve to know what this company is really like’
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/tech/meta-whistleblower-book-…
Meta’s Response to Explosive Tell-All Is Ripped From a Familiar PR Playbook
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/metas-response-explosi…
dakial1
Book review at the NYT: https://archive.is/vN0Jp#selection-1333.0-1333.13
dmix
> Described by its publisher as an “explosive insider account,” Wynn-Williams reveals some new details about Mark Zuckerberg’s push to bring Facebook to China a decade ago. She also alleges that Meta's current policy chief, Joel Kaplan, acted inappropriately, and reveals embarrassing details about Zuckerberg’s awkward encounters with world leaders
I'm interested in the topic but this sounds gossipy. I've been burned enough times by these insider journalism books whose only good parts become headlines within the first week and the rest is some random person's life story.
nullstyle
I have some audible credits to spend. One spent.
Wistar
“…rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years.”
Jumbo shrimp.
bakugo
> Numerous former employees have publicly disputed Wynn-Williams’ account of events that transpired while she worked at Facebook.
As usual, the most important information is buried deep in the article to ensure the outrage bait title brings in the clicks.
hsuduebc2
Corporations are never truly your friends and should be treated accordingly. For some reason, we once believed that tech companies were different, but in reality, it was always just a more sophisticated facade. It’s good to see that facade being torn down—this should be obvious to everyone. You wouldn’t expect good behavior from BP Oil, so why expect it from Meta or any other tech giant? They all operate under the same logic: profit first, everything else is just a convenient disguise. Hope Streisand effects work fully for her!
ninetyninenine
if meta is trying to stop it then it must be true! Data be damned.
ghfhghg
Queued it at my local library and already there is a huge queue. Hopefully will be able to read it this year
anonymousiam
The summary I read mentioned arbitration, which she probably agreed to when she signed her employment contract. Not surprisingly, the arbiter ruled against her. I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but IMHO she should ignore their ruling and the let FB sue her, where she would get a fair hearing and probably win.