A new scandal is hitting Meta this week. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook employee, has just published a book accusing her former employer, called Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work. Despite Meta's legal efforts to stifle its distribution, the book is dominating American literary rankings.
Careless People, what's it about?
The book published by McMillan focuses on lift the veil on the alleged excesses of the social media giant. Sarah Wynn-Williams held a strategic position at Facebook between 2011 and 2017, a pivotal period marked by the global expansion of the social network, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the first questions about content moderation. In Careless People, she describes a corporate culture obsessed with growth, where ethical considerations are systematically relegated to the background. According to accusations, executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, have prioritized user engagement at all costs, even when algorithms amplified hateful content or disinformation.
The book also recounts internal meetings where team warnings about the risks of tools like Likes were allegedly ignored. One passage notably accuses Meta of knowingly minimizing the impact of its algorithms on the political polarization of the 2016 elections. Beyond the revelations, the book questions the lack of questioning within the company. Wynn-Williams explains that whistleblower employees were marginalized, even pushed out, thanks to strict confidentiality agreements. These clauses, signed in exchange for severance packages, constitute, according to her, a "systemic strategy to stifle critical voices."
Meta Covers Up the Case, and Fails
On March 7, 2025, Meta filed a lawsuit with the International Center for Dispute Resolution to block the publication of the book, citing a breach of confidentiality clause. On March 12, an arbitrator partially ruled in favor of the company, prohibiting the author from promoting her book. However, this decision came too late: 60,000 copies (physical, digital, and audio) had already been sold in one week, propelling the novel to the top of the New York Times rankings and to 4th place in Amazon's overall sales in the United States.
Faced with the accusations, Meta reacted with a categorical denial, calling the book a "collection of inaccurate and biased claims." In a statement, the group emphasized its "values of integrity and responsibility," but did not challenge the revelations point by point. This stance was perceived as an attempt to divert attention, without really providing concrete evidence to refute the accusations. Problem: By legally attacking the book, Meta crystallized public interest. The media, initially moderate in their coverage, amplified the subject as soon as Meta's legal proceedings were announced, questioning the reasons for this censorship.
A Streisand effect that ultimately led the book to undergo a vast communication operation. Ironically, it was on Meta's platforms that the controversy found an echo. Thousands of users shared: excerpts from the book, accompanied by the hashtag #CarelessMeta. Former employees have publicly supported Wynn-Williams, confirming similar pressures to silence ethical concerns.
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