
Careless People: The controversial book is shocking and reveals Facebook is far worse than we could have suspected
Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work
Author
:
Sarah Wynn-Williams
ISBN-13
:
978-1035065929
Publisher
:
Macmillan
Guideline Price
:
£16.99
With Careless People: A Story of Where I used to Work,
Facebook
's former director of global public policy
Sarah Wynn-Williams
provides a shocking but fascinating exposure of Facebook's utterly dystopian dysfunctionality.
Careless People reveals that everything is far, far worse than we ever could have suspected, despite all the past investigative reporting, international hearings and other recent books on Facebook/
Meta
's failings. This is a horror scream-fest for anyone who cares about democracy, accountability and decency.
A former diplomat, Wynn-Williams offers a darkly funny page-turner that shows how insanely powerful, detached and, yes, evil these wealthy tech overlords and their companies have become. With her insider view and knowledge of the company's catastrophic global affairs manoeuvrings, she provides a convincing immediacy compared to more distanced journalistic or tech-perspective books about Meta.
She spent seven years within then-Facebook's management team, working closely with
Zuckerberg
, his '
lean-in
' first lieutenant Sheryl Sandberg (now departed), and Republican operative and current Meta president of global affairs Joel Kaplan.
READ MORE
They come across as despicably vile – an understatement, given the bizarre, predatory actions of Sandberg and Kaplan, ignored by the company even when witnessed incidents are raised with Facebook lawyers. Sandberg's women-supportive lean-in spiel is gutted by Wynn-Williams's recounting of Sandberg's imperious selfishness and indifferent neglect of women working for her. If this wasn't a well-lawyered book from someone with Wynn-Williams's past role, many of these jaw-dropping stories would even stretch credibility (Meta disputes the allegations).
Former taoiseach Enda Kenny pops up in a Davos anecdote. Kenny is eager to explain a new planned tax wheeze that will benefit Facebook, and hears out Sandberg's plea for a soft regulator.
Some of this has been reported in the past. But here, I think New Zealander Wynn-Williams doesn't get Irish plámás. Kenny's adept charm offensive probably wasn't all about them.
[
'It's time to move on': Unease is growing among my friends in the tech sector
Opens in new window
]
The final chapters are the most serious. Wynn-Williams exposes Facebook's lethal ineptitude in Myanmar, where platform exploitation in part led to brutal attacks and thousands of deaths. In explosive revelations on Facebook's Chinese operations, she lays bare the company's shocking anti-democratic wooing and intended accommodation of demands to enable government-led surveillance of Chinese platform users. Most of this is newly revelatory, and raises serious legal, governance and accountability questions.
There's much more to appal. If you want to understand Meta, and the tech and political zeitgeist, don't miss it.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
China and US resume trade talks in London
Top US and Chinese officials were meeting in London today to try to defuse a high-stakes trade dispute that has widened beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to restrictions over rare earths, threatening to cripple supply chains and slow global growth. Officials from the two superpowers were meeting at the ornate Lancaster House to try to get back on track with a preliminary agreement struck last month in Geneva that had briefly lowered the temperature between Washington and Beijing. Since then the US has accused China of slow-walking on its commitments, particularly around rare earths shipments. US economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the US team wanted a handshake from China on rare earths after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke last week. "The purpose of the meeting today is to make sure that they're serious, but to literally get handshakes," Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC in an interview. He said the expectation was that immediately after the handshake, export controls would be eased and rare earths released in volume. The talks, which could run into Tuesday, come at a crucial time for both economies, with investors looking for relief from Trump's cascade of tariff orders since his return to the White House in January. China's export growth slowed to a three-month low in May while its factory-gate deflation deepened to its worst level in two years. In the US, the trade war has put a huge dent in businessand household confidence, and first-quarter gross domestic product contracted due to a record surge in imports as Americansfront loaded purchases to beat anticipated price increases. But for now, the impact on inflation has been muted, and the jobs market has remained fairly resilient, though economists expect cracks to become more apparent over the summer. Attending the talks in London will be US TreasurySecretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and a Chinese contingent helmed by Vice Premier He Lifeng. The inclusion of Lutnick, whose agency oversees export controls for the US, is one indication of how central rareearths have become. China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors. Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. The second round of meetings comes four days after Trump and Xi spoke by phone, their first direct interaction since Trump's January 20 inauguration. During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi told Trump to backdown from trade measures that roiled the global economy and warned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, according to a Chinese government summary. But Trump said on social media the talks focused primarily on trade led to "a very positive conclusion," setting the stage for Monday's meeting in London. The next day, Trump said Xi had agreed to resume shipments to the US of rare earths minerals and magnets and Reuters reported on Friday that China has granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top three US automakers. China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures" that the US wanted the two sides to build on the progress made in Geneva in the hope they could move towards more comprehensive trade talks. The preliminary deal in Geneva sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 Index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18% after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2% below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model. While the UK government will provide a venue for Monday's discussions, it will not be party to them and will have separate talks later in the week with the Chinese delegation.


Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
US signals willingness to remove tech export restrictions with China
Trade talks between the US and China kicked off in London on Monday, with the US signalling a willingness to remove restrictions on some tech exports in exchange for assurances that China is easing limits on rare earth shipments. Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House's national economic council, told CNBC that the Trump administration expects that 'after the handshake' in London, 'any export controls from the US will be eased and the rare earths will be released in volume' by China. Mr Hassett's comments from Washington were the clearest signal yet that the US is willing to offer such a concession, although he added that the US would stop short of including the most sophisticated US chips made by Nvidia used to power artificial intelligence. 'The very, very high-end Nvidia stuff is not what I'm talking about,' Mr Hassett said, adding that restrictions would not be lifted on the Nvidia H2O chips that are used to train AI services. 'I'm talking about possible export controls on other semiconductors, which are also very important to them [China],' he said. US stocks flipped between small gains and losses, and Chinese shares trading in Hong Kong entered a bull market as investors expressed hope the talks signalled a cooling of trade tensions. Bloomberg Read More Car makers 'in full panic' over rare-earths shortage amid China's export controls


The Irish Sun
10 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Lidl shoppers reveal trick to get ‘hidden' freebies – and you don't need to spend anything
LIDL shoppers say they've been getting hidden freebies through the discount supermarket's loyalty app. Customers have been raving about the free finds they've managed to get through the Lidl Plus app, including doughnuts, fresh fruit and pasta. 2 One shopper managed to get all of these items for free through the app Credit: Facebook/ Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK 2 This shopper saved more than £10 by using the Coupons Plus feature Credit: Facebook/ Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK It's all through the app's Coupon Plus feature, which lets shoppers unlock rewards and freebies when they spend. Several shoppers have been sharing their bargains on the Another shared a photo of a receipt showing they had got muffins, a punnet of strawberries and pasta. "All free with my Lidl coupon plus rewards," they said proudly. Read more on Lidl A third person said they had got coupons for free fruit, veg and a bakery item on their app despite not spending anything at Lidl yet this month. A fourth said they received a free kilo punnet of strawberries. Lidl has said the coupons in its app are tailor-made for each customer based on their shopping habits. To get the vouchers you should head to the Coupons Plus section of the app and make sure you activate the coupons before you head to the till. Most read in Money The offers seem to change over time but one example is getting a free bakery sweet treat when you spend £10 in a month. Shoppers have also shared an extra little-known tip that can help you get the most out of your coupons. Five Lidl rosés you need this summer, according to a wine expert - a £6.99 buy is as light & crispy as £22 Whispering Angel One social media user said that when you have a free item in the coupons section of the app, you should click on the picture of the item and scroll down to where it says 'item number'. If you click on this, it should show you the complete list of any items you can claim for free with the coupon. That means you're not just limited to the free item seen in the picture. What other offers can you get through the Lidl Plus app? If it's your birthday you can get a free doughnut from the Lidl bakery section. There's no minimum spend required and the coupon is valid for seven days from your birthday. All you need to do to get the offer is register your birthday when you initially sign up to the app. Other offers you can get through the Lidl Plus app include a 10% off voucher when you spend £250 in-store in a month. This could be particularly helpful for larger families doing their weekly shops at Lidl. There is also currently a chance to win £5,000 through the app. Shoppers who spend £30 in one transaction with Lidl Plus from now until June 18 will be entered into a draw to win the cash. One winner will be announced every day and you can enter multiple times. Why do Aldi and Lidl have such fast checkouts IF you've ever shopped in Aldi or Lidl then you'll probably have experienced its ultra-fast checkout staff. Aldi's speedy reputation is no mistake, in fact, the supermarket claims that its tills are 40 per cent quicker than rivals. It's all part of Aldi's plan to be as efficient as possible - and this, the budget shop claims, helps keep costs low for shoppers. Efficient barcodes on packaging means staff are able to scan items as quickly as possible, with the majority of products having multiple barcodes to speed up the process. It also uses 'shelf-ready' packaging which keeps costs low when it comes to replenishing stock.