Meta moves to block promotion of whistleblower’s tell-all memoir

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is taking legal action to prevent the promotion of a memoir by former employee Sarah Wynn-Williams, which casts the tech giant in an unflattering light. The book, Careless People, published by Flatiron Books under Macmillan, includes allegations of sexual harassment and details of Meta’s controversial attempts to enter the Chinese market.

An emergency arbitrator ruled on Thursday that Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting her book. Meta claims that the memoir, which was released on Tuesday, violates the non-disparagement terms of her severance agreement. The company filed an emergency motion last Friday, arguing that her public statements and the book’s content breach their prior legal agreement.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone reinforced the company's position, stating, "This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who, more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves."

Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, during which she held a high-ranking position that involved direct interactions with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, and current policy chief Joel Kaplan. In Careless People, she alleges that Kaplan made inappropriate comments to her, which she reported to the company as sexual harassment.

Meta has dismissed these claims as "out-of-date and previously reported" and has characterized her book as containing false accusations about the company’s executives. The company has also stated that Wynn-Williams was fired for "poor performance and toxic behavior."

The memoir also sheds light on Meta’s efforts to penetrate the Chinese market. Wynn-Williams claims that Facebook explored building censorship tools that would comply with regulations set by the Chinese Communist Party. Some of these allegations were included in a whistleblower complaint she filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April, as reported by NBC News.

The emergency arbitrator’s ruling prohibits Wynn-Williams from further distributing the book and from making any additional disparaging remarks about Meta and its executives. The ruling also requires her to retract previous comments.

Critics argue that Meta’s legal actions raise concerns about corporate suppression of free speech. By leveraging non-disparagement clauses, major corporations can effectively silence former employees from speaking out about their experiences. While Meta asserts that it is protecting its reputation and business interests, others see this as an attempt to stifle critical voices.

Neither Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books, nor Macmillan Books have responded to requests for comment.

As the legal battle unfolds, the controversy surrounding Careless People continues to fuel debate over corporate accountability, workplace culture, and the power of Big Tech in controlling public narratives.