7 ms·
Meta is trying to stop a former employee from promoting her book about Facebook
- croes 2y agoWhy doesn’t Meta just put community notes on FB for the book? Problem solved.
- hilbert42 2y ago""This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement."" Whistleblowing is often a traumatic experience for whistleblowers and it's often a last-ditch resort done out of desperation after a long struggle with their conscience and or after they've tried to right wrongs and have failed. To make matters worse it's almost inevitable those who are the subject of the whistleblowing (employers, institutions/entities or persons) will attempt to make life very difficult for the whilstleblower by discrediting both the person and everything he or she says. Add to all that the fact that the target of the whistleblowing is inevitably the more powerful of the parties. Whistleblowing isn't for the fainthearted. For the most part, whistleblowers aren't aware of all the problems they'll encounter let alone their full extent, thus they'll often be stressed and emotionally traumatized by events, some of which are quite unexpected. First, is that employees with whom they're friendly and who also know the issues will often turn against them and side with employers with the result that few will publicly support the whistleblower's claims. This is often unexpected and comes as quite a shock. Effectively, whistleblowers are usually on their own. Second, they'll likely have considerable difficulty in seeking further employment. Third, whistleblowing legislation in many places is grossely inadequate which leaves whistleblowers exposed, for them the law offers little or no protection. There's more but that'll do for now. That said, not all whistleblowers are lily-white and some seek vengeance for various reasons; there may be a modicum of truth in what they say but with these people sorting fact from fiction is often difficult. Also, whistleblowers with a genuine grievance do themselves and their cause harm by exaggerating the facts for emphasis. There's also another class of whistleblower who exasperates just about everybody, they're the people who have a genuine complaint but which turns out to be trivial or inconsequential. I'm of the opinion they're one of the reasons why whistleblowing legislation is lacking. As it is, it's often hard to know where to draw the line. That which constitutes an issue of enough importance to warrant whistleblowing and to not only draw public attention but also bring on an investigation is often not clearcut and these 'nuisances' muddy the waters. Moreover, that whistleblowing is often viewed negatively as tittle-tattle even by those who welcome the whistleblower's revelations is another factor whistleblowers have to contend with. Both the distaste and ambivalence that a large percentage of the US public showed towards Snowden is evidence of that. Eventually, truth will out and we will learn whether Sarah Wynn-Williams’ claims are false and defamatory or are factual—either in full or in part. If her claims are genuine, well motivated and factual she'll nevertheless be in for a pretty rotten time. Unfortunately, that's the usual lot for most whistleblowers, very few benefit from having been one and many end up regretting having so acted.
- redeux 2y agoNot just promoting but: > to the extent within Respondent Wynn-Williams' control, from further publishing or distributing Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, including with respect to electronic and audio versions of the book; https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arbitration-Interim-Award.pdf https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arbitration-...
- defrost 2y agoAlternative title: Meta promotes new book about Barbra Streisand's Beach House
- redeux 2y agoSarah Wynn-Williams is about to become a NYT best seller.
- __MatrixMan__ 2y agoAnd you can help: https://read.macmillan.com/fib/careless-people/ https://read.macmillan.com/fib/careless-people/
- amyames 2y ago[dead]
- cratermoon 2y agofreeze peach amirite?
- jameskilton 2y agoI wasn't planning on buying the book but ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250391237?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250391237?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DE...
- xyst 2y agoI’m buying the book, but definitely not from AMZN. Found it on back order at a local shop and ordered there. Bookshop.org is a pretty good alternative to AMZN.
- m463 2y agoOthers have mentioned bookshop. Why do you prefer it?
- unsnap_biceps 2y agoBuying a physical book through bookshop.org supports a user chosen local bookshop or, if none is selected, supports a nation wide collection of bookshops. The goal being that it's similar to if you went to the bookshop to buy the book directly. Ebooks are the same concept, but they're still sold with DRM (AFAIK), so I haven't dove into their app to test it out.
- xyst 2y agoBesides not being AMZN. They act as a middleman to redirect purchases to local bookstores in your area. Plus registered/certified as a B-corporation is a plus in my book — https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/bookshoporg/ https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/boo...
- ChoGGi 2y agoFor anyone else looking at it: US and UK only
- TheNewsIsHere 2y agoAnd for ebooks, I’ve found Kobo to be an absolutely fantastic replacement. They also widely support Adobe Editions if that is your jam.
- whatever1 2y agoThat explains why after Zuck started calling for return of masculinity to the workplace, the former accused exec immediately sided with him. It's all tit for tat.
- coro_1 2y agoThe image makeover is unprecedented for a CEO. Also from that JRE podcast with the masculinity and workplace conversation, he's working the bow and arrow chit chat from that long form interview in a recent podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQZjrVEOpOk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQZjrVEOpOk
- Apocryphon 2y agoBezos?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- coro_1 2y agoYes their end game appears different. Meta has created a new archetype.
- dmix 2y agoIt's a pretty common narrative for CEOs to get into fitness later in life, especially running. I'd imagine it's pretty hard to be successful at a demanding job after 40+ if you're not in decent physical shape. Easier to go hard in your 20s.
- disgruntledphd2 2y agoHe's been running for at least a decade.
- dmix 2y agoThe full interview is a bit more nuanced, he talked about how they need to keep rising up women in leadership and how they have been very important to FBs success which he wants to keep promoting but he had some concerns they got caught up and went a bit too far in some ways. The context was semi personal as he was being asked about his entry into MMA and how it has shaped his personal life.
- segmondy 2y agoI saw about the book earlier, didn't care about reading it. Then I saw about the arbitration on the news and immediately ordered a copy.
- anon373839 2y ago> From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite. Hell of a pitch. I'll buy.
- trhway 2y ago>this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite I wonder how many time it should be revealed to stop being an eye-opening and a revelation. Brief look over the article and the photos, and it seems like a usual story - somebody is happy to be a part of the viper nest at the very top until they get kicked out, and then "eye-opening revelations" come out (of course i think that Meta shouldn't be able to block it, until it is some NDA stuff)
- 6stringmerc 2y agoIn fairness that’s how most power structures crumble throughout history. The USSR didn’t collapse because of low level revolution - disenfranchised senior leadership lost the handle. The mistake of using people for a time and thinking they won’t come back to haunt you is naive and I’m all for it. Many of my hardest life lessons learned was because I was willingly working for people who were keeping me blind to their actual nature and motives and it was disguised at the time. The alternative wheee people just shrug and don’t document it for history - gossip or not - is a bad alternative.
- ashoeafoot 2y agoWhy is misogyny such a cenrral thing? They cooperate with dictators and kill people , yet the sales atrocity is internal discrimination ?
- jazzyjackson 2y agoMaybe just the hypocrisy of making themselves the moral moderator of Western civilization / having a COO write a femanifesto* while internally being no better than other other old boys club *lean in
- light_triad 2y agoMeta is starting to have a whistleblower problem: - Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025) - Arturo Bejar (2023) - Frances Haugen (2021) - Sophie Zhang (2020) - Chris Hughes, Co-Founder (2019) - Roger McNamee, Investor (2019) - Christopher Wylie (2018) - Alex Stamos, ex-CSO (2018) - Brian Acton, Co-Founder WhatsApp (2017) - Sean Parker, ex-President (2017) - Chamath Palihapitiya (2017) - Justin Rosenstein (2017) Ex-Meta executive: ‘People deserve to know what this company is really like’ https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/tech/meta-whistleblower-book-sarah-wynn-williams/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/tech/meta-whistleblower-book-... Meta’s Response to Explosive Tell-All Is Ripped From a Familiar PR Playbook https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/metas-response-explosive-tell-all-pr https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/metas-response-explosi...
- kirubakaran 2y agoDon't forget the very first whistleblower: - Mark Zuckerberg (2004) "People just submitted it. I don't know why. They 'trust me'. Dumb fucks"
- xdavidliu 2y agonit: that was a private AIM conversation with a college friend or something, that happened to get leaked, so the whistleblower is the friend who presumably leaked, not Mark himself.
- kirubakaran 2y agoReminded me of this clip :-p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLWLysI2LSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLWLysI2LSE
- alex1138 2y agoBrian Acton ensures I'll never use Whatsapp. Clear antitrust case
- dakial1 2y agoBook review at the NYT: https://archive.is/vN0Jp#selection-1333.0-1333.13 https://archive.is/vN0Jp#selection-1333.0-1333.13
- dmix 2y ago> Described by its publisher as an “explosive insider account,” Wynn-Williams reveals some new details about Mark Zuckerberg’s push to bring Facebook to China a decade ago. She also alleges that Meta's current policy chief, Joel Kaplan, acted inappropriately, and reveals embarrassing details about Zuckerberg’s awkward encounters with world leaders I'm interested in the topic but this sounds gossipy. I've been burned enough times by these insider journalism books whose only good parts become headlines within the first week and the rest is some random person's life story.
- j_bum 2y agoI listened to her interview on the Free Press, and to be totally honest, the way it was discussed does feel “gossipy.” [0] One thing that rubs me the wrong way is her decision to wait to share this information. When asked that by Weiss during the podcast, her response was effectively, “because AI is getting so powerful, and everyone should know what these companies are doing.” Don’t get me wrong - I believe what she claims to have happened, and I sympathize with her difficult experience at the company. But what she discussed doesn’t feel like it’s very substantive beyond what could already be deduced or observed. [0] https://www.thefp.com/p/meet-sarah-wynn-williams-facebooks https://www.thefp.com/p/meet-sarah-wynn-williams-facebooks
- taurath 2y agoIt’s easier to be principled when you can afford to not have to find work anymore. People who publically criticize tech billionaires tend to not have an easy time with that. There’s no way to know, as someone who doesn’t know the writer, what her truest motivations are, but it’s probably a good bet that whatever she does she’ll never wield power and influence over the lives of so many people as Mark, who’s dedicated his life to extracting as many resources as he can for his personal empire.
- TheNewsIsHere 2y agoAssuming positive intent, many times the reason for a long wait is to allow NDAs to expire.
- nullstyle 2y agoI have some audible credits to spend. One spent.
- Wistar 2y ago“…rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years.” Jumbo shrimp.
- bakugo 2y ago> Numerous former employees have publicly disputed Wynn-Williams’ account of events that transpired while she worked at Facebook. As usual, the most important information is buried deep in the article to ensure the outrage bait title brings in the clicks.
- hsuduebc2 2y agoCorporations are never truly your friends and should be treated accordingly. For some reason, we once believed that tech companies were different, but in reality, it was always just a more sophisticated facade. It’s good to see that facade being torn down—this should be obvious to everyone. You wouldn’t expect good behavior from BP Oil, so why expect it from Meta or any other tech giant? They all operate under the same logic: profit first, everything else is just a convenient disguise. Hope Streisand effects work fully for her!
- Gud 2y agoTech companies were different and still are. The problem is that for some reason, advertising companies such as Meta and Google are considered tech companies by some. You wouldn’t call red bull an extreme sports company, just because they fund extreme sport events? I bet Rocket Lab is a great company to work at for a nerd.
- insane_dreamer 2y agoI don’t think that tech companies are inherently different by virtue of being tech companies. There are good ones and bad ones just like in other industries. There’s nothing special about “tech” that makes it a better place to work.
- xdavidliu 2y ago> Tech companies were different and still are. what would be an example of a tech company (for a fair comparison, a large one would be nice), and how is it different in the sense of not exhibiting the behaviors of this book?
- Gud 2y agoAn example would be a company with a primary stream is technology, not selling advertisements or data from social media users. Siemens, Nvidia, AMD, etc.
- 2y ago
- ninetyninenine 2y agoif meta is trying to stop it then it must be true! Data be damned.
- ghfhghg 2y agoQueued it at my local library and already there is a huge queue. Hopefully will be able to read it this year
- anonymousiam 2y agoThe summary I read mentioned arbitration, which she probably agreed to when she signed her employment contract. Not surprisingly, the arbiter ruled against her. I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but IMHO she should ignore their ruling and the let FB sue her, where she would get a fair hearing and probably win.
- ukoki 2y agoThe News Agents podcast just did an interview with Wynn-Williams https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/special-episode-inside-the-murky-world-of-facebook/id1640878689?i=1000698997805 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/special-episode-inside...
- auxbuss 2y agoThanks. This is excellent, as you'd expect from Emily Maitlis.
- koolba 2y agoThis type of heavy handed action always leads to the same outcome for the popularity of the verboten material. Would love to see the actual severance contract too. It must have some kind of expiration date. Otherwise that kind of indefinite non-disparagement clause is one hell of a sword of Damocles.
- codelikeawolf 2y agoAgreed, this has Streisand effect written all over it. I don't know how effective book marketing campaigns normally are, but this type of exposure will blow that out of the water.
- underdeserver 2y ago20 points, 3 comments... a bit too early to declare Streisand on this.
- MrMcCall 2y agoWe can do it!
- GTP 2y ago29 points, five commments & on HN's front page. Still early, but it is growing fast.
- dagw 2y agoThis story has be posted to HN several times. The earlier story has 220 points and 50 comments
- mystified5016 2y agoOne comment thread is not the entire internet you know. There are other websites out there
- amyames 2y ago[dead]
- SanjayMehta 2y agoI didn’t plan on buying this but after reading the comments here and the NYT review, went for it. Am 90 odd pages into it and the author describes sending “talking points” to the FB COO while in the delivery room, moments before her daughter was born. What really grabs you, she’s using a laptop. Not a phone.
- insane_dreamer 2y agoThe thing is that’s not really specific to Meta, but exemplifies the “dedicated, hard working” worker who is more likely to be promoted (and eventually make big bucks) because they are willing to sacrifice their life/family/children for the company. It’s a cultural thing particularly strong in the US and goes along with Americans having so few paid days off etc. It’s horrible how our worth as humans becomes wrapped up in this.
- gchadwick 2y agoPeople may be interested in the interview with Wynn-Williams (the whistleblower) on the News Agents podcast: https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/episodes/7DrpKCA/ https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/episodes/7DrpKCA/ (it's a UK news/political podcast very popular in the UK). From what they said at the beginning I think this is her first big podcast interview about the book/her claims. I wonder if she chose a UK podcast because of the US arbiter ruling.
- macinjosh 2y agoThe News Agents are political hacks. Not a good source of balanced information.
- badlibrarian 2y agoDid Zuck buy a copy or just torrent it?
- xdavidliu 2y agoZuck isn't LeBron. https://www.essentiallysports.com/nba-basketball-news-refusing-to-pay-10-and-forcing-rookies-to-pay-for-his-food-lebron-james-is-the-cheapest-guy-in-the-nba-once-claimed-heat-legend-dwyane-wade/ https://www.essentiallysports.com/nba-basketball-news-refusi...
- okayokayokay123 2y ago[flagged]
- subpixel 2y agoI would really not care, but now I'm quite interested.
- avgDev 2y agoI didn't know about this book before, now I do, and I'm going to read it. Thanks Meta!
- rsynnott 2y ago> Wynn-Williams sees Zuckerberg change while she’s at Facebook. Desperate to be liked, he becomes increasingly hungry for attention and adulation, shifting his focus from coding and engineering to politics. On a tour of Asia, she is directed to gather a crowd of more than one million so that he can be “gently mobbed.” Well, now I'll have to buy it, I suppose. Streisand at it again.
- mPReDiToR 2y agoI wonder what on earth these people are dreaming of when they try to stop one person promoting a book by making a move guaranteed to kick off the Streisand Effect and having the whole media machine do it for her? Maybe they're getting paid royalties on the publication? Also, .torrent file available on TPB in 3 2 1 ... (It wasn't at time of posting).
- JohnFen 2y agoI bought this book yesterday as a result of their suppression efforts. In all likelihood, I wouldn't have really even been aware of it otherwise.
- crorella 2y agoIf they care so much about stopping this book then it must mean they really care about preventing the truth to see the light and for people to know what really goes behind closed doors. EDIT: Also, I believe they stopped promotion, but not selling.
- Finnucane 2y agoThey've now insured the book will get lots of additional promotion.
- nonrandomstring 2y agoWhere can I buy this book? I'll get one now, even if I never read it.
- JohnFen 2y agoThey're still available from most bookstores, and Amazon.
- The-Old-Hacker 2y agohttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Careless-People-story-where-used/dp/1035065924 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Careless-People-story-where-used/dp...
- The-Old-Hacker 2y agoStating that 'Meta will suffer “immediate and irreparable loss”' from the promotion of this book is almost certain to trigger the Streisand effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
- ttyprintk 2y ago“This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published” No. The arbiter didn’t say Williams was warned about libel and proceeded anyway.