Latest news with #andLostIdealism
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meta doesn't want you to read this book. So of course it's a best-seller
Meta (META) prohibited a whistleblower from promoting her tell-all memoir. The book climbed all the way to number three on Amazon's (AMZN) bestsellers list shortly after. Sarah Wynn-Williams, former director of global policy at Meta's Facebook, published her tell-all memoir 'Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism' last Tuesday. Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company for seven years from 2011 to 2018, aims some scathing misconduct accusations at Meta, and particularly its chief executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Wynn-Williams says she faced retaliation from the company after reporting sexual harassment by her boss, the company's current chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan, who got promoted to the role in January 2025. She also accuses the tech giant of providing incomplete statements to Congress about Facebook's relationship with China. Earlier this month, Wynn-Williams filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission over this issue, saying that Meta was willing to let China censor content or completely shut down the site during times of social unrest, according to a Washington Post report. Meta has denied the accusations, and on Wednesday successfully obtained an emergency ruling from the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, blocking Wynn-Williams from temporarily promoting the book, on the basis that the tech giant would likely succeed in its case against the former director for breach of the non-disparagement agreement she signed when leaving the company. The ruling and Meta's overall attempts at censoring Wynn-Williams' claims may have done more damage for the tech giant though, as the media frenzy drew further attention to the book, creating the infamous Streisand effect. In 2003, singer and actress Barbra Streisand sued a photographer for violation for privacy over an aerial photo of her house. The photograph had been dowloaded only six times before the lawsuit was filed, twice of which were by the actress' lawyers. A month after the filing, it was viewed more than 400 thousand times and remains widely published to this day. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta takes aim at ex-employee's memoir 'Careless People'
Meta won a legal victory this week against Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former employee who recently published a memoir of her time at the company titled "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism." An arbitrator ruled that the company has made a valid argument that Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook (now Meta) from 2011 to 2017, may have violated the non-disparagement agreement she signed when leaving the company. The ruling states that Wynn-Williams is temporarily prohibited from promoting — or, 'to the extent within [her] control, from further publishing or distributing' — her book until private arbitration concludes. However, "Careless People" remains available for purchase, and may in fact be benefitting from the "Streisand Effect," in which attempts to suppress information only serve to further publicize it. As of Sunday afternoon, "Careless People" was the number three bestselling book on Amazon. Macmillan, which published "Careless People" through its imprint Flatiron Books, said in a statement that the arbitrator's decision "has no impact" on the publisher and that it will "absolutely continue to support and promote' the book. The publisher added that it is "appalled by Meta's tactics to silence [its] author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement." "To be clear, the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People," Macmillan said. "The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this." "Careless People" offers what a New York Times reviewer described as a "darkly funny and genuinely shocking" look inside Facebook — particularly its relationship with China and other governments. (Wynn-Williams' roles at Facebook included serving as director of global public policy.) "I was there for seven years, and if I had to sum it up in a sentence, I'd say that it started as a hopeful comedy and ended in darkness and regret," Wynn-Williams wrote in the memoir. She added, "[M]ost days, working on policy at Facebook was way less like enacting a chapter from Machiavelli and way more like watching a bunch of fourteen-year-olds who've been given superpowers and an ungodly amount of money, as they jet around the world to figure out what power has bought and brought them." Wynn-Williams also reportedly filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that, in its eagerness to operate in China, Facebook created a plan in 2015 to install a "chief editor" who would have been able to censor certain content or shut down the site in China on behalf of the country's ruling party. In a statement, a Meta spokesperson described "Careless People" as "a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about [Meta] and false accusations about our executives,' and described Wynn-Williams is "an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance." "We do not operate our services in China today," the Meta spokesperson continued. "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." "Careless People" recounts uncomfortable encounters between Joel Kaplan, now Meta's vice president of global public policy, and Wynn-Williams, who claims he ground himself against her at a work event, described her as "sultry," and made "weird comments" about her husband. Meta said it investigated Wynn-Williams' allegations of harassment and found them "misleading and unfounded." As for the company is simply trying to silence a whistleblower's criticism, the spokesperson said, "Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books.' Current and former Facebook employees have also criticized Wynn-Williams' memoir. Ex-staffer Mike Rognlien said he "sat next to Sarah for 18 months when we both worked at the New York office" and claimed the book "has so many lies in it I wouldn't even know where to start." Wynn-Williams discussed Meta's pushback in a Business Insider interview conducted before the arbitration ruling, characterizing criticisms from the company and former coworkers as distractions. Asked about whether the book had been fact-checked, she said, "I think Meta's problem is using this to not answer the questions themselves. What I would love is for us not to fall into the distraction."
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
Bombshell Facebook Author ‘Distorted' Truth: Ex-Colleague
The Facebook executive whose bombshell tell-all about Meta's leaders is at the center of a legal battle has been accused of 'fabrications' by a witness to its central events, the Daily Beast has learned. Sarah Wynn-Williams book, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, was published Tuesday—making a series of claims about Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta CEO and founder, his global affairs head Joel Kaplan, and particularly about Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's former COO. Wynn-Williams alleged that Sandberg asked her to 'come to bed' on a private jet and made an assistant spend thousands on lingerie for her. Sandberg and the assistant slept in each other's laps and stroked each other's hair on a European trip, the author wrote, who had been a senior Facebook executive until she was fired in 2017. In her book, Wynn-Williams also alleged that Kaplan, Sandberg's Harvard boyfriend, frequently made sexually charged remarks—calling Wynn-Williams 'sultry'—and drunken physical advances, 'grinding' up against Wynn-Williams at a celebratory staff event. Wynn-Williams alleges she told the company's lawyers about 'Joel's behavior and the fact that he made me work during maternity leave' as part of a confidential internal investigation, but somehow Kaplan found out. In her account, she alleged that 'retaliation from Joel begins almost immediately.' 'He informs me that he's halving my job… There's no explanation given other than that he has made a decision,' she writes. The Daily Beast reached out to Kaplan for comment but received no response. Meta, Facebook's parent company, used a rare legal move to gag Wynn-Williams from speaking further and from personally distributing the book, but was powerless to stop its publication. It has now hit number three in Amazon's best-sellers list after the legal action. But the Daily Beast has spoken to a woman who worked closely with Wynn-Williams, who said the book had 'fabrications' and was 'very sad.' The witness spoke on condition of anonymity which the Beast granted after verifying that they had knowledge of the events. Wynn-Williams used a pseudonym in her book for a former colleague. Wynn-Williams, Facebook's former global public policy director, was fired by the company in 2017. Her role was to advise the company's top leaders, including Sandberg and Zuckerberg, as they dealt with governments around the world. Addressing an incident in which the author claims Sandberg asked her to 'come to bed' on a private plane ride from Davos, Wynn-Williams' ex-colleague said she remembers it differently. But the witness who spoke to the Beast said, 'The setup of the plane was that there were two beds in the back and then a series of slightly less comfortable beds further forward in the planes. 'Sheryl had one of the beds in the back.' Wynn-Williams was 'very tired, very pregnant,' at the time, the witness added. 'I'm sure we, including Sheryl, were encouraging her to get sleep in the most comfortable bed that was available, which was one of the two beds in the back of the plane,' she said. 'I feel like it's such a catch-22 because if you're the senior woman on a plane, there's a pregnant woman, and you don't encourage them to get sleep in the most comfortable bed on a flight path, I feel like you're a monster.' She added, 'Sheryl's a very warm person, but the least sexualized person.' Another central claim was that Sandberg sent an employee lingerie shopping and brought back $13,000 in underwear. The former employee said, 'I don't have any anything to add on that allegation.' After Wynn-Williams was let go, she 'kind of just went dark after she was fired,' said the former employee. 'It was weird,' adding that she was not notified and 'no facts were checked with any of us' before the book's publication. The account adds new texture to a legal and public relations battle over the book. Sandberg has declined to comment on it while Meta has attacked Wynn-Williams. The 'book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,' it said in a statement. Meta used an arbitrator to force Wynn-Williams' silence by activating a non-disparagement clause in a contract she signed when she left the company. In a ruling, an arbitrator added that Meta had provided enough evidence that Wynn-Williams had potentially violated the terms of her employment, according to Meta. However, the ruling does not limit publishers Flatiron Books, and its parent company Macmillan, from continuing to support its publication. Flatiron's vice president and executive director of publicity, Marlena Bittner, said the publisher is 'appalled by Meta's tactics to silence our author.' In a statement to the Daily Beast, Bitter hit back against the former employee's fact checking claims. 'Macmillan did not seek comment from the individuals Wynn-Williams discusses in Careless People. We had no obligation to do so, and it is not a standard publisher process in publishing a memoir,' said Bittner. 'Careless People is not a third-person report pieced together from various sources; it is a firsthand account of events told by the woman who experienced them.' She added, 'This account is supported by a trove of documentation. Of course, like any memoir, Wynn-Williams' book also contains scenes based primarily or exclusively on her memory as an eyewitness.' Sandberg left Facebook in 2022 and stepped down from Meta's board in 2024. In her defense, Meta has put up a fierce campaign against Wynn-Williams. On X, Meta communications manager Andy Stone shared several tweets from current and former employees opposing Wynn-Williams' version of events. 'You know what is an assessment of its factuality? All the people who knew and worked with Sarah Wynn-Williams and have said the book is not factual,' he wrote, sharing a post from another employee who claims Wynn-Williams made false statements in the book. 'In my over 10 years working at Meta, I had direct experience being managed by both Sarah Wynn Williams and Joel Kaplan. And I can say with the utmost sincerity that nothing I am reading in the media resembles my own experiences,' wrote Kevin Chan in a LinkedIn post.
Washington Post
14-03-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Arizona Republican questions Mark Zuckerberg over dealings with China
An Arizona Republican is urging Meta to be more transparent about its effort to win the approval of the Chinese Communist Party to implement a censored version of Facebook in the China market. Rep. Abraham Hamadeh (R-Arizona) wrote a letter dated Friday urging Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to clarify the level of oversight the company was willing to give the CCP over social media content to realize its goal of entering the Chinese market. Hamadeh was responding to a Washington Post report earlier this week about an SEC whistleblower complaint filed by Meta's former global policy director, Sarah Wynn-Williams, who alleges that the social media giant developed a censorship version of Facebook in 2015 allowing for a 'chief editor' who would decide what content to remove, or even to shut down the entire site during times of 'social unrest.' Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. Meta spokesman Andy Stone previously said in a statement that it was 'no secret' the company was interested in operating in China. 'We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019,' Stone added. Hamadeh also asked Zuckerberg to confirm whether the social media giant had suppressed content or accounts at the request of the CCP. Wynn-Williams' complaint, which was bolstered by internal documents, alleged that Meta leaders faced aggressive pressure by Chinese government officials to host Chinese users' data to local data centers and suppress the account of a Chinese political dissident living in the United States. 'The latest allegations raise urgent questions about whether Meta continues to assist foreign regimes in controlling online discourse or targeting U.S. based dissidents of the CCP and other totalitarian regimes,' Hamadeh wrote. 'Given Meta's substantial influencer over public debate and democratic processes, this matter demands immediate transparency and accountability.' Earlier this week, an emergency arbitrator temporarily prohibited Wynn-Williams from promoting her book 'Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism,' which was released this week. The arbitrator found that Wynn-Williams probably violated a non-disparagement agreement when she released the book, which offered a critical insider's look at the actions of the social media company's top executives.
Vox
14-03-2025
- Business
- Vox
The Facebook tell-all Mark Zuckerberg doesn't want you to read, briefly explained
is a senior technology correspondent at Vox and author of the User Friendly newsletter. He's spent 15 years covering the intersection of technology, culture, and politics at places like The Atlantic, Gizmodo, and Vice. In a 2019 speech at Georgetown University, Mark Zuckerberg made a bold statement. Rather than to help college kids get dates, he claimed, Facebook was invented as a platform for 'free expression.' Six short years later, Zuckerberg's company is trying to muzzle yet another whistleblower — one who happens to have written a book full of alleged anecdotes about him and fellow Facebook executives that aren't just embarrassing but also politically damning. Sarah Wynn-Williams, the whistleblower and author, was a director of global policy at Facebook from 2011 until 2017, when she was fired. The book came out on March 11 and is called Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, a reference to The Great Gatsby, which refers to its wealthy characters as 'careless people' who 'smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money.' The analogy is not subtle, and neither are the allegations Wynn-Williams makes about her former bosses, including Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook, and Zuckerberg himself. User Friendly A weekly dispatch to make sure tech is working for you, instead of overwhelming you. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Meta took legal action against Wynn-Williams last week, arguing that she violated a nondisparagement agreement she signed when she was a Facebook employee. An arbitrator ruled in Meta's favor on Wednesday, instructing Wynn-Williams to stop promoting the book and 'amplifying any further disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments.' The book's publisher, Flatiron Books, and its parent company, Macmillan Publishers, were not part of the arbitration case, and the book remains on sale. Among the more salacious claims Wynn-Williams makes in the book are that Sandberg once allegedly made her assistant buy $13,000 worth of lingerie for both Sandberg and the assistant. And on a trip home from Davos, Sandberg took the only bed on the plane, and then allegedly told Wynn-Williams, who was visibly pregnant at the time, to 'come to bed' with her. Things get darker from there. Joel Kaplan, who was vice president of global policy and Wynn-Williams' boss, allegedly did several inappropriate things around this time, including but not limited to telling Wynn-Williams that she looked 'sultry.' When Wynn-Williams reported that she couldn't work while on maternity leave because she was still bleeding from surgery, Kaplan allegedly asked where she was bleeding from. Wynn-Williams reported Kaplan for sexual harassment, and Meta said it conducted a lengthy investigation, including interviews with 17 witness, that cleared Kaplan. Zuckerberg comes off looking bad, too, based on early reviews and reporting on the book's allegations. NBC News sums up what Wynn-Williams claimed about the Facebook co-founder, now Meta CEO, thusly: 'His belief that Andrew Jackson was the greatest American president, his interest in collecting wine from the Jackson era in the 1830s, his desire to have a 'tribe' of children and his professed ignorance that Facebook employees were letting him win at the board game Settlers of Catan.' All these personal details frankly look quaint compared to what Wynn-Williams has to share about Facebook's attempts to enter China. Under Zuckerberg's leadership, the company was prepared to do almost anything to shut down dissent and comply with the Chinese Communist Party's censorship rules in order to gain access to the country's billion-plus potential users, according to the book, as well as a 78-page whistleblower complaint that Wynn-Williams filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the complaint, Facebook even planned to employ a 'chief editor' to take down unacceptable posts and to share all user data with the Chinese government. Wynn-Williams also alleges that Zuckerberg later told an incomplete version of the truth about its China plan effort to Congress. A Meta spokesperson told Vox that details of its plan to enter China were 'widely reported beginning a decade ago.' Related Why this Facebook scandal is different Meta does not like that whistleblower complaint or this book. The company said in a statement to Vox that the book contains 'a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives' and that Wynn-Williams was fired for 'poor performance and toxic behavior.' Meta also claims that Wynn-Williams 'has been paid by anti-Facebook activists.'
