Latest news with #CarelessPeople:ACautionaryTaleofPower
National Observer
15-05-2025
- Business
- National Observer
What disappeared from the Pentagon website
These words stopped me cold. "Why are you considering compromising with traditional media? It's an industry locked in a death spiral... You're compromising with a dying industry rather than dominating it. Crushing it." This was Mark Zuckerberg talking. His words are revealed in Sarah Wynn-Williams' explosive memoir Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Zuckerberg is fighting to suppress this book with legal injunctions, but its revelations illuminate the hostility Meta has shown toward facts, news and the information systems democracy depends upon. The most damning aspect of Careless People isn't its documentation of Facebook's actions, but its exposure of the calculated contempt behind them — the disregard for human lives left vulnerable on their platforms, for democratic institutions undermined by their algorithms and for sovereign nations treated as mere extraction sites. They embody what Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff identified so precisely in 2019 as "surveillance capitalism." These are not just tech companies but extractive predators that harvest our most intimate data to predict, manipulate and monetize our behavior while skilfully operating beyond meaningful accountability. When Critical Information Disappears This letter marks the launch of an urgent fundraising campaign for CNO. As we witness unprecedented threats to both our information ecosystem and our national security, Canada's National Observer is stepping up a new stream of coverage we're calling "Reality Check." During the federal election, journalists Rachel Gilmore and Emily Baron Cadloff led this new fact-checking service at CNO, focused on dispelling climate disinformation. We need more funds now to continue to provide this vital service and to do more. We're seeking to build more dedicated reporting focused on the convergence of disinformation, climate change and democracy. To make this vital work possible, we need to raise $150,000 by May 31st. I hope you'll join us in this critical mission after reading why this initiative is more necessary than ever. The urgency of our work was brought into sharp focus for me in a shocking way as I was doing some research on national security and climate. In 2015, the US Department of Defense issued a historic report that explained how climate change was not just an environmental issue — it was a national security issue. The Pentagon warned that the impacts of climate change — instability, mass displacement and the failure of governments to meet basic needs — were real and accelerating. Fast forward to now, and try to find that report online. You won't. The link leads to a 404. The original document has been erased. That's because the Trump administration ordered US agencies last February to remove references to the climate crisis from their websites. What has been erased from official records is chilling — the disappearance of critical knowledge about the climate threats we face — threats that continue to evolve and become more dangerous with each passing day. This deliberate erasure of information isn't just bureaucratic housekeeping — it's information warfare. In a world where critical security assessments can simply vanish overnight, who preserves the knowledge citizens need to understand the challenges we face? Who has the facts? While government websites can be scrubbed clean of inconvenient truths, a firehose of disinformation continues unabated across podcasts, Instagram, TikTok and countless other platforms. It is happening in the US but needless to say, it also affects us in Canada. Over the past ten years, CNO has steadily built a permanent, secure archive with over 40,000 well-researched climate articles that will remain accessible to the public regardless of political shifts. Help us continue to build this vital archive. When Meta Abandoned Canada In August 2023, we witnessed Meta's true priorities when they abruptly removed all news content from their platforms in Canada rather than comply with new legislation. The impact was immediate and devastating. At CNO, our traffic plummeted and stories that once reached millions disappeared from Facebook and Instagram feeds. Our Facebook page went dormant and the 30,000 or so people who went there for news were disappointed. Fake news on Facebook dominates. This wasn't a business decision; it was a power play that revealed the tech giant's fundamental indifference to democratic discourse. The consequences extend far beyond our industry. While legitimate news vanishes from platforms, disinformation flourishes unchecked. This creates a dangerous reality where climate change becomes in some minds "just an opinion" and genuine national security threats go underreported or misunderstood. Recent polls show climate concerns falling among Canadians' priorities — not because the crisis has abated, but because the information ecosystem has been corrupted. As our recent podcast, The Takeover, documents, far-right influencers and business leaders in the oil industry are now aggressively trying to debunk the idea that there even is a 'climate crisis.' Our Plan to Fight Back After ten years as publisher of CNO, I've come to understand that disinformation is the fundamental problem we must solve before we can effectively address climate change and national security. That's why I'm asking for your support today. If we can raise $150,000 by May 22, we will be able to ramp up with: But if we can reach $250,000, we will create a fully dedicated desk with both a researcher and a reporter working exclusively on disinformation and security issues. At a time when U.S. agencies have been ordered to remove references to the climate crisis from their websites, and when Trump has weaponized tariffs against our economy, Canada needs to strengthen its information system. Independent journalism that preserves critical information and holds power accountable depends on people like you to play the role that it must. While Meta and other platforms can switch off access to news with the flip of a switch, your support ensures CNO remains resilient and independent. Unlike the vanishing Pentagon climate security report that now leads to a 404 error, we've built a permanent, secure archive that will remain accessible regardless of who holds power. The stakes couldn't be higher. The geopolitical order is in flux. Climate-driven disasters are growing in scope. And disinformation threatens to undermine our collective response to these challenges while making billionaires wealthier. Just this week, Meta announced they'd posted $42 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Why This Matters to Me Personally As many of you know, I came to Canada in 2001, a month after 9/11, to start a new life here. I became a Canadian citizen, raised two sons on this soil, divorced and remarried a Canadian. I came with an idealistic view of Canada that over the years has shifted to a more realistic view of its strengths and limitations, but I still believe that Canada is a world leader and gem of a progressive democracy with the potential to offer hope around the world as authoritarianism spreads. My home is in Canada, and it's here where I've built both a family and a publication dedicated to truth. The threats we face today are not abstract policy disagreements. They are direct challenges to Canadian sovereignty and security. With Trump attacking Canada's economy through tariffs and floating the outrageous notion of absorbing Canada as the 51st state, it often feels like his goal is to make us feel insecure, anxious and uncertain. This deliberate destabilization serves those who benefit from a confused and divided public. Together with you, we can help push back against confusion and falsehoods. This isn't just another fundraising campaign. It's about whether Canadians will have access to vital information when they need it most. What we build today will serve Canadians for generations. Standing Against a Dystopian Future In Careless People, Wynn-Williams reveals Zuckerberg's ultimate vision: creating a 'fifth estate' with Facebook as the singular news platform for billions. While he may have temporarily lost interest in this digital monopoly, the infrastructure and ambition remain. What stands between that dystopian information landscape and a healthy democracy isn't government regulation or corporate conscience — it's independent journalism with the resources to withstand pressure and preserve truth. Your support today doesn't just fund reporting; it ensures Canada maintains the information sovereignty essential to remaining the country we love, not the 51st state in someone else's empire. When I launched CNO in 2015, I could not have predicted how dramatically the information landscape would shift — how tech giants would claim to support journalism while plotting to "crush" it, how climate science would be erased from government websites or how disinformation would flood into the void where verified news once stood. What began as a publication focused primarily on climate reporting has evolved into something more fundamental: a guardian of facts in an era when facts themselves are under assault. The connections between disinformation, climate denial and threats to national security have never been clearer or more dangerous. When Trump speaks of tariffs and annexation, when Meta abandons Canada while disinformation flourishes, when critical climate security documents vanish without a trace — these aren't isolated incidents, but symptoms of a coordinated assault on informed democracy.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Author of explosive Meta memoir to star at US Senate hearing
The former Facebook employee behind a scathing book about parent company Meta will testify Wednesday before US senators keen to establish whether the social networking giant ever collaborated with the Chinese government. Former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams has alleged the company explored the possibility of breaking into the lucrative Chinese market by appeasing Beijing's government censors. Meta communications director Andy Stone told AFP the company "ultimately decided not to go through with the ideas we'd explored." The company's family of apps is currently blocked in China. Wynn-Williams's testimony at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing will focus on Meta's foreign relations moves and on what its executives have previously told Congress. Of particular interest at Wednesday's hearing, headed by Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, is whether Wynn-Williams contradicts what Meta co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has stated under oath during past congressional hearings. Wynn-Williams's book, "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism," was released on March 11 and became a hot seller despite Meta winning an arbitration court order barring the author from promoting the work or making derogatory statements about the company. Her book recounts working at the tech titan from 2011 to 2017 and includes claims of sexual harassment by longtime company executive Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and ally of President Donald Trump who took over as head of Meta's global affairs team this year. Meta took the matter to arbitration, contending the book violates a non-disparagement contract signed by Wynn-Williams when she worked with the company's global affairs team. Stone said Wynn-Williams was "fired for poor performance and toxic behavior," having made a series of allegations that the company investigated and found to be unfounded. "Careless People" ranks second on a New York Times bestseller list of nonfiction books, with another title highly critical of Meta close behind. "The Anxious Generation," which paints a dark picture of social media's effect on children, is currently fourth on the Times bestseller list, a year after its release. gc/arp/sla/aha
Express Tribune
22-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Book slams Meta, tops bestseller list
A scathing book about Facebook parent company Meta, whose author has been barred from promoting her work, entered at the top of the New York Times bestseller list after its first week of release in the United States. The book also ranks fourth on Amazon's bestseller list, the platform showed on Thursday. In Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism, which was released on March 11, Sarah Wynn-Williams recounts working at the tech titan from 2011 to 2017. Wynn-Williams's book includes claims of sexual harassment by longtime company executive Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and ally of President Donald Trump who took over as head of Meta's global affairs team this year. She also wrote of Meta, then known as Facebook, exploring the possibility of breaking into the lucrative Chinese market by appeasing government censors there. Meta quickly took the matter to arbitration, contending the book violates a non-disparagement contract signed by Wynn-Williams when she worked with the company's global affairs team. An arbitration court granted Meta's request to bar Wynn-Williams from promoting the book or making derogatory statements about the company. She also must retract previous critical comments about Meta or its executives, according to the ruling, which remains in place until the dispute is settled in the private arbitration process. "This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn-Williams' false and defamatory book should never have been published," Meta communications director Andy Stone said at the time in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Stone said Wynn-Williams was "fired for poor performance and toxic behavior," having made a series of unfounded allegations that the company investigated. Another book that is highly critical of Meta, The Anxious Generation, which paints a dark picture of social media's effect on children, is currently fourth on the Times best-seller list a year after its release. AFP
Fox News
19-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Congressman calls for Zuckerberg to answer on China dealings
Congressman Ro Khanna D-Calif., is calling for Mark Zuckerberg to appear before the congressional oversight committee to address accusations about his efforts to create censorship tools for China. The demand comes in the wake of explosive allegations made in a new memoir by a former Meta employee. Here's what Khanna told me this morning: "I think Mr. Zuckerberg needs to appear in front of my congressional oversight committee to answer questions about these allegations with China." Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former director of global public policy at Facebook (now Meta), has penned a tell-all book titled "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism." The memoir paints a damning picture of Meta's leadership, particularly focusing on Zuckerberg's alleged attempts to gain access to the Chinese market. "This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today," a Meta spokesperson said. "It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world. This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019." Zuckerberg's China strategy, as revealed by Sarah Wynn-Williams, was far more extensive and controversial than previously known. According to her account, the Meta CEO went to extraordinary lengths to persuade the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to grant Meta permission to operate within China's borders. Zuckerberg's efforts reportedly included providing detailed briefings to CCP officials on cutting-edge technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. Furthermore, Meta allegedly collaborated directly with the CCP to develop custom-made censorship tools tailored to the party's specifications. Perhaps most alarmingly, Wynn-Williams claims that Zuckerberg attempted to conceal these cooperative efforts with the CCP from the U.S. Congress, raising serious questions about transparency and potential legal implications. Meta has refuted the claims, stating that they haven't seen the book and that the former employee was terminated in 2017. The company spokesperson referenced Zuckerberg's 2019 speech at Georgetown University, where he claimed that despite his efforts, they could never reach an agreement with China on the terms of operation. We reached out to Meta for a response to our article but did not hear back before our deadline. Here is some of what he said back then: "It's one of the reasons we don't operate Facebook, Instagram or our other services in China," Zuckerberg said. "I wanted our services in China because I believe in connecting the whole world and I thought we might help create a more open society. I worked hard to make this happen. But we could never come to agreement on what it would take for us to operate there, and they never let us in. And now we have more freedom to speak out and stand up for the values we believe in and fight for free expression around the world." The allegations raise serious questions about the relationship between big tech companies and authoritarian regimes. They also highlight the ongoing challenges faced by social media platforms in balancing global expansion with ethical considerations and national security concerns. The call for Zuckerberg to testify before Congress underscores the gravity of these allegations. If true, they could have far-reaching consequences for Meta, its leadership and the tech industry as a whole. As the story unfolds, it will be crucial to watch how lawmakers, regulators and the public respond to these revelations about one of the world's most influential companies. Is it ever OK for tech companies to compromise on ethics and transparency in pursuit of global growth, especially when dealing with authoritarian governments? Let us know by writing us at For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Alert: Malware steals bank cards and passwords from millions of devices Follow Kurt on his social channels Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions: New from Kurt: Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
South China Morning Post
19-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Who is Meta whistle-blower Sarah Wynn-Williams? The former New Zealand diplomat used to work with ‘careless people' Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook, and just released a tell-all memoir
Meta has successfully barred a former Facebook employee from promoting or further distributing copies of her tell-all memoir Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism, as reported by the BBC. Sarah Wynn-Williams with her former boss, Mark Zuckerberg (centre). Photo: Sarah Wynn-Williams Facebook's parent company said the emergency ruling affirms that 'the false and defamatory book should never have been published'. Wynn-Williams, who used to be the company's global public policy director, alleges sexual harassment and human rights failures in her book, per NBC News. Meta has disputed the allegations. Advertisement In a statement, a spokesperson for the UK publisher Macmillan said: 'As publishers, we are committed to upholding freedom of speech and her right to tell her story. Due to legal process instituted by Meta, the author has been prevented from continuing to participate in the book's publicity.' Here's what we know about Sarah Wynn-Williams and her book. Where is Sarah Wynn-Williams from? Sarah Wynn-Williams hails from New Zealand. Photo: World Economic Forum Wynn-Williams was born and raised in New Zealand, according to The New York Times. After working with the United Nations, she became a diplomat at her country's embassy in Washington. She is also an international lawyer, having earned a BA in political science, international relations and diplomacy from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Laws from Victoria University, per the World Economic Forum. What did Sarah Wynn-Williams do at Facebook? Sarah Wynn-Williams was previously a diplomat. Photo: Flatiron Books
