A new memoir by a former Facebook employee claims that the social media giant has faced “visits” and “raids” — both armed and unarmed — at its international offices, including in India. The book also claims that Facebook once hired an ex-police captain who was ready to go to jail in case of a conflict between the company and the Indian government.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, wrote the memoir Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. However, Meta recently secured a ruling from an emergency arbitrator that prohibits the author from promoting the book. Despite this legal setback, as of now, the book remains available for purchase on e-commerce platforms in India.
Meta Criticizes Author for Withholding Book Details and Ignoring Fact-Checking
Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, stated in a post on X that the ruling confirms Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book is false and defamatory and should never have been published. He said Williams deliberately concealed her book project and bypassed the industry’s standard fact-checking process to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years. He also emphasized that Meta had to take urgent legal action because she did so more than eight years after the company terminated her employment.
A Meta spokesperson told The Indian Express that the book contains outdated and previously reported claims, along with false accusations against company executives. Meta stated that it fired Sarah Wynn-Williams eight years ago for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation found her harassment allegations to be misleading and unfounded. The spokesperson also alleged that anti-Facebook activists have funded her since then and that she wrote the book as part of that agenda, emphasizing that whistleblower protections do not cover activists trying to sell books.
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Former Meta executive Sarah Wynn-Williams claimed in her book that Facebook frequently clashed with government regulators in countries like India, Brazil, and South Korea. She alleged that in India, the company hired an ex-police captain to handle potential arrests in conflicts with the government. The book also reveals that Facebook lobbied to sustain its Free Basics program, but India banned it in 2016 for violating Net Neutrality.
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