Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former senior govt at Meta, has ignited controversy in Silicon Valley along with her newly launched memoir, ‘Careless Folks: A Cautionary Story of Energy, Greed, and Misplaced Idealism’. The e book provides a damning critique of Meta’s company tradition, its dealing with of misinformation, and its position in international political occasions, together with the 2016 US presidential election and violence in Myanmar.
Who’s Sarah Wynn-Williams?
Wynn-Williams was a longtime worker at Fb (now Meta), the place she performed an important position within the firm’s authorities affairs division. She was chargeable for managing political and regulatory relations, significantly in Asia-Pacific markets. Nevertheless, her tenure led to 2017 beneath circumstances she claims had been linked to her issues about Meta’s moral failings.
Explosive allegations in opposition to Meta
In ‘Careless Folks’, Wynn-Williams accuses Meta’s management, together with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, of prioritizing revenue over moral concerns. She claims that the corporate’s enterprise selections enabled the unfold of misinformation and incited violence, significantly in Myanmar, the place Fb performed a task in amplifying hate speech in opposition to the Rohingya minority.
She additional alleges that Meta made content material moderation concessions to the Chinese language authorities in an try to achieve market entry—regardless of its public stance in opposition to Beijing’s censorship insurance policies.
One of the controversial claims in her e book is that Meta executives actively sought to suppress inner dissent, together with her personal makes an attempt to lift alarms concerning the platform’s position in political interference.
Wynn-Williams goes on to allege that she was a sufferer of sexual harassment by her former boss, Joel Kaplan, who was then serving as Fb’s Vice-President for International Public Coverage. She claims that after submitting a criticism, she confronted retaliation from the corporate. Meta, nevertheless, has denied the allegations, stating that an inner investigation in 2017 cleared Kaplan of any wrongdoing. He now holds the place of Chief International Affairs Officer.
The memoir additionally contains startling claims about former Fb COO Sheryl Sandberg. Wynn-Williams, who was pregnant on the time, alleges that in a personal jet flight from Davos to California in January 2016, Sandberg repeatedly pressured her to “share a mattress” on board. When she refused, Wynn-Williams claims it strained their skilled relationship.
Meta’s response
Meta has strongly denied the allegations, dismissing Careless Folks because the work of a “disgruntled activist.” The corporate asserts that Wynn-Williams was fired on account of “poor efficiency and poisonous habits,” not for whistleblowing.
Moreover, Meta has instructed that Wynn-Williams has obtained monetary backing from anti-Fb activists, calling her credibility into query. The corporate has additionally pursued authorized motion to forestall her from selling the e book, citing a non-disparagement settlement she signed whereas employed at Meta.
Whistleblower criticism & trade fallout
Past her memoir, Wynn-Williams has taken authorized motion in opposition to Meta by submitting a whistleblower criticism with the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC). The criticism reportedly focuses on Meta’s alleged changes to content material moderation insurance policies to appease China—an accusation that, if confirmed, may have vital regulatory implications for the tech big.
The memoir has obtained widespread media consideration, with The Sunday Instances calling it “a stunning, darkly humorous, and extremely essential exposé” of Meta’s inner operations. Writer Macmillan has stood by Wynn-Williams, condemning Meta’s makes an attempt to silence her via authorized stress.