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Careless People

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Not to be confused with Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
First edition cover
AuthorSarah Wynn-Williams
LanguageEnglish
GenreWhistleblowing
PublisherMacmillan [a]
Publication date
March 2025
Publication placeUnited States
Pages382 (first edition)
ISBN978-125039123-0
OCLC1504756807

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism is a memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams published on March 11, 2025.[1][2][3] Wynn-Williams, a former director of public policy at Facebook (renamed Meta), is a critical account of Facebook's internal culture and decision-making practices during her time there. The book is highly critical of Facebook's responses to global sociopolitical events, including its role in the Rohingya genocide and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's alleged efforts to censor on behalf of the Chinese government.[4][5] Additionally, Wynn-Williams accuses several Facebook executives, including Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan, of engaging in harmful behavior in the workplace, including sexual harassment.[6]

The book gained media coverage following reports that Meta sued to prevent Wynn-Williams from promoting the book; public backlash against Meta's response have been credited with boosting sales of the book.[7][8][9] By late March 2025, Careless People had reached number one on the The New York Times bestseller list.[10] Following the book's publication, Wynn-Williams was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate, where she accused Zuckerberg of having been willing to censor content in order to gain access to the Chinese market.[11]

Background

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Main article: Sarah Wynn-Williams

Sarah Wynn-Williams is a former Facebook executive who worked in global policy and government relations. In Careless People, she provides an account of her time at the company, discussing its approach to corporate ethics, public policy, and business strategy.[12][13]

Content

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The book (and the SEC filing, see below) documents attempts by Mark Zuckerberg to gain dominance in China. Although Facebook developed these technologies, it eventually decided not to implement them. Academic John Naughton writes that these efforts included:[5]

developing a censorship system for China in 2015 that would allow a "chief editor" to decide what content to remove, and the ability to shut down the entire site during "social unrest"; assembling a "China team" in 2014 for a project to develop China-compliant versions of Meta's services; considering the weakening of privacy protections for Hong Kong users; building a specialised censorship system for China with automatic detection of restricted terms; and restricting the account of Guo Wengui, a Chinese government critic, after a Chinese internet regulator suggested it would improve cooperation.

Wynn-Williams accuses Zuckerberg of lying to the US Congress about the extent of efforts by Facebook to curry favor with the Chinese government. Wynn-Williams suggests that Facebook was developing technologies and tools to allow the Chinese government to censor users and gain access to their data.[14]

The military junta in Myanmar was facilitated by Facebook to post hate speech that sought to foment sexual violence and promote genocide against the Rohingya. "Myanmar would have been a better place if Facebook had not arrived" Wynn-Williams writes.[14][15]

Wynn-Williams claims Meta identified teenage girls who had deleted selfies on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and forwarded their data to companies who used the data to target the girls with beauty products.[14]

The book details allegations of unaddressed sexual harassment in the workplace by senior Meta executives, including Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan,[14] Sandberg reportedly told Wynn-Williams on one occasion: "You should have got into the bed".[16]

Publication

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Prior to publication, Wynn-Williams lodged a 78‑page complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[5] Wynn-Williams also briefed The Washington Post, recorded an interview with journalist Emily Maitlis, and appeared on a podcast with Steve Bannon.[5]

Reception

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Sales

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In late March 2025, Careless People was number one on the New York Times bestseller list and was selling well in the United Kingdom, despite legal attempts by Meta to prevent its distribution.[10]

Critical response

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Careless People received coverage from The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Guardian. Some reviews described the book as a detailed insider's account of Big Tech's influence, while others stated that it contained little new information.[17]

Writing for The New York Times, Jennifer Szalai called the book "darkly funny and genuinely shocking: an ugly, detailed portrait of one of the most powerful companies in the world".[18] In a separate opinion piece in The New York Times, Michelle Goldberg stated that "Hopefully, Meta’s ham-handed attempt at censorship will lead more people to read Wynn-Williams’s book", and argued that the company's reaction undermined Zuckerberg's professed support for free speech.[19]

Jason Koebler, a reporter who has covered Meta, wrote in 404 Media that it was 'the book about Facebook I've wanted for a decade'.[20] Journalist Katie Notopoulos stated in a Business Insider piece that "The most damning moments in the book had already been reported in the news".[21]

Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, Meta's former head of public policy in Bangladesh, praised aspects of the book in her review in Rest of World, but argued that Wynn-Williams did not acknowledge her own complicity for Facebook's behavior during her period there. In her review, Diya called the book "a courageous feat, but it glosses over [Wynn-Williams's] own indifference to warnings from policymakers, civil society, and internal teams outside the U.S. about serious harm to communities from Facebook."[22]

Meta

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Meta describes the book as "a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about [its] executives".[10]

Mark Zuckerberg responded legally through private arbitration. The American Arbitration Association's emergency arbitrator, Nicholas Gowen,[23] required Wynn-Williams to not make "orally, in writing, or otherwise any disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments to any person or entity concerning [Meta], its officers, directors, or employees".[5][24] Macmillan, the UK publisher, later issued a statement saying that it would ignore the ruling.[5] Gowen stated that without emergency relief, Meta would suffer "immediate and irreparable loss".[10] Nicholas Gowen did not order any action by the publisher.[25][26] Hours before an arbitrator barred Wynn-Williams from promoting her book, she was interviewed by Business Insider.[27]

Impact

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On April 9, 2025, Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the hearing "A Time for Truth: Oversight of Meta’s Foreign Relations and Representations to the United States Congress".[28][29] During her testimony, Wynn-Williams claimed that Facebook leadership worked "hand in glove" with the Chinese government to censor content on its platforms.[30]

In April 2025, the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations cited the book in a probe into Meta Platforms over its attempt to enter the People's Republic of China in 2014 in what was internally called "Project Aldrin".[31][32]

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican who serves as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Zuckerberg over allegations that the company worked to silence Wynn-Williams.[33]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The book is published under United States imprint Flatiron Books, but Macmillan is the responsible entity.

References

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  1. ^ Wynn-Williams, Sarah (11 March 2025). Careless people: a cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism. London, United Kingdom: Macmillan. ISBN 978-125039123-0. Published under the Flatiron Books imprint.
  2. ^ Szalai, Jennifer (2025-03-10). "Book Review: 'Careless People,' by Sarah Wynn-Williams". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2025-03-12. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  3. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (2025-03-16). "Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams review – a former disciple unfriends Facebook". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  4. ^ Duffy, Clare (2025-03-11). "Ex-Meta executive: 'People deserve to know what this company is really like' | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the original on 2025-03-11. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Naughton, John (15 March 2025). "Whistleblower's exposé of the cult of Zuckerberg reveals peril of power-crazy tech bros". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2025-03-15.
  6. ^ Duffy, Clare (2025-03-11). "Ex-Meta executive: 'People deserve to know what this company is really like' | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  7. ^ Notopoulos, Katie. "Meta didn't want people to read this book. Now it's a No. 1 bestseller". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  8. ^ Jancer, Matt (2025-03-21). "Meta Tries to Kill Damning Tell-All Book, Accidentally Promotes It to Bestseller". VICE. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  9. ^ Creamer, Ella (2025-03-20). "Meta exposé tops bestseller chart despite company's attempt to ban its promotion". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  10. ^ a b c d Creamer, Ella (20 March 2025). "Meta exposé tops bestseller chart despite company's attempt to ban its promotion". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  11. ^ Nix, Naomi (2025-04-09). "Meta silenced a whistleblower. Now she's talking to Congress". Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  12. ^ "Meta stops former Facebook director from promoting critical memoir". www.bbc.com. 2025-03-13. Archived from the original on 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  13. ^ "Ex-Facebook employee alleges sexual harassment and human rights failures in new memoir". NBC News. 2025-03-10. Archived from the original on 2025-03-18. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  14. ^ a b c d Jeffries, Stuart (16 March 2025). "Careless people: a story of where I used to work by Sarah Wynn-Williams review – a former disciple unfriends Facebook". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-16.
  15. ^ "Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in Myanmar". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  16. ^ Klee, Miles (21 March 2025). "11 WTF Moments from the Facebook Memoir Mark Zuckerberg Doesn't Want You to Read". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  17. ^ "Careless People — the jaw-dropping account of Sarah Wynn-Williams' time at Facebook". Financial Times. 2025-03-12. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  18. ^ "A Facebook Insider's Exposé Alleges Bad Behavior at the Top". New York Times. 10 March 2025. Archived from the original on 13 March 2025. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  19. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (2025-03-17). "Opinion | The Tell-All Book That Meta Doesn't Want You to Read". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  20. ^ Koebler, Jason (2025-04-07). "'Careless People' Is the Book About Facebook I've Wanted for a Decade". 404 Media. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  21. ^ Notopoulos, Katie (March 20, 2025). "Meta didn't want people to read this book. Now it's a No. 1 bestseller". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 20, 2025. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  22. ^ Diya, Sabhanaz Rashid (2025-03-26). "A former Meta employee reviews the new Facebook memoir". Rest of World. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  23. ^ "Meta wins halt to promotion of 'Careless People' tell-all book by former employee". Reuters. March 13, 2025. Archived from the original on 2025-03-24. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  24. ^ Isaac, Mike (13 March 2025). "Meta seeks to block further sales of ex-employee's scathing memoir". The New York Times. New York, USA. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-16.
  25. ^ Babu, Juby. "'Careless People': Meta wins arbitration to halt promotion of tell-all book by ex-employee". USA TODAY. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  26. ^ Pahwa, Nitish (19 March 2025). "We Read the Book That Mark Zuckerberg Doesn't Want You to Read. We Can See Why". Slate. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  27. ^ Dixit, Pranav. "Meta is trying to silence a former executive. In an interview, she tells BI why". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 23 March 2025. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  28. ^ "A Time for Truth: Oversight of Meta's Foreign Relations and Representations to the United States Congress | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". Senate Judiciary Committee. 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  29. ^ Lima-Strong, Cristiano (2025-04-10). "Transcript: Former Exec Sarah Wynn-Williams Testifies on Facebook's Courtship of China | TechPolicy.Press". Tech Policy Press. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  30. ^ Garrison, Laura (2025-04-10). "Meta whistleblower tells senators Facebook worked "hand in glove" with Chinese government to censor posts - CBS News". CBS News. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  31. ^ Shepardson, David (April 1, 2025). "US Senate committee opens review into Meta efforts to gain Chinese market access". Reuters. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  32. ^ Lu, Alan (2025-04-11). "Facebook's Zuckerberg oversaw censorship tool for China: whistleblower". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  33. ^ Fields, Ashleigh (2025-04-15). "Grassley presses Zuckerberg over Meta's treatment of whistleblower". The Hill. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
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