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Meta won a effectual victory this hebdomad against Sarah Wynn - Williams , a former employee who latterly published amemoirof her time at the companionship titled “ Careless multitude : A Cautionary Tale of Power , Greed , and Lost Idealism . ”
An arbitratorruledthat the troupe 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 leave the company . The ruling submit that Wynn - Williams is temporarily interdict from promoting — or , “ to the extent within [ her ] ascendance , from further publication or distributing ” — her book until private arbitration concludes .
However , “ Careless People ” remain available for purchase and may in fact bebenefiting from the “ Streisand effect,”in which attempts to suppress information only serve to further bare it . As of Sunday afternoon , “ Careless People ” was thenumber three bestselling book on Amazon .
Macmillan , which published “ Careless People ” through its imprint Flatiron Books , said in a assertion that the arbitrator ’s decision “ has no wallop ” on the publisher and that it will “ absolutely continue to support and promote ” the script .
The newspaper publisher added that it is “ appalled by Meta ’s tactics to silence [ its ] author through the enjoyment of a non - disparagement article in a severance arrangement . ”
“ To be unclouded , the umpire ’s order makes no extension to the title within Careless People , ” Macmillan say . “ The Quran last through a thorough redaction and vetting process , and we persist committed to publishing important books such as this . ”
“ Careless People ” offers whata New York Times reader describedas a “ darkly funny and genuinely shocking ” facial expression inside Facebook — particularly its relationship with China and other government . ( Wynn - Williams ’ character at Facebook include serving as director of world public insurance . )
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“ I was there for seven years , and if I had to sum up it up in a judgment of conviction , I ’d say that it started as a hopeful clowning and ended in darkness and sorrow , ” Wynn - Williams wrote in the memoir .
She added , “ [ M]ost days , cultivate on policy at Facebook was right smart less like enacting a chapter from Machiavelli and way more like watching a bunch of fourteen - year - old who ’ve been dedicate superpowers and an iniquitous amount of money , as they gush around the man to figure out what index has buy and fetch them . ”
Wynn - Williams alsoreportedly filed a whistleblower complaintwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that , in its eagerness to function in China , Facebook created a design in 2015 to install a “ master editor ” who would have been able to censor sealed substance or shut down the site in China on behalf of the country ’s ruling political party .
In a statement , a Meta spokesperson described “ Careless People ” as “ a mix of out - of - appointment and antecedently reported claim about [ Meta ] and false accusations about our executives , ” and draw Wynn - Williams as “ an employee terminated eight days ago for poor public presentation . ”
“ 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 report beginning a decade ago . We ultimately opted not to go through with the approximation we ’d explore , which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019 . ”
Meta say it look into Wynn - Williams ’ allegations of harassment and found them “ shoddy and unfounded . ”
As for whether the caller is simply trying to silence a whistleblower ’s criticism , the spokesperson said , “ Whistleblower status protects communications to the governance , not disgruntled activist trying to betray books . ”
Current and former Facebook employee have also criticise Wynn - Williams ’ memoir . Ex - staff member Mike Rognliensaidhe “ sat next to Sarah for 18 months when we both play at the New York office ” and claimed the Christian Bible “ has so many lie in it I would n’t even know where to begin . ”
Wynn - Williams discussed Meta ’s pushback ina Business Insiderinterview conducted before the arbitration opinion , characterise literary criticism from the company and former Colorado - workers as distractions . Asked about whether the book had been fact - ascertain , she enunciate , “ I think Meta ’s job is using this to not serve the questions themselves . What I would love is for us not to fall into the distraction . ”
