Sarah Wynn-Williams joined Facebook in 2011, when it was its “fast moving and destroying things” era. She was a former UN diplomat and she had a desire to help Facebook improve its position on the global stage.
She has had front seats at the company for nearly seven years, at the most important (and controversial) moments on Facebook. Last week, she published Careless Man: A cautionary story, greed and the idealism of lossa memoir is about her time at the company and how she slowly felt disappointed with Facebook’s role in the world.
Since its announcement, Meta has cast the full weight of its PR machine toward the book. The company initiates an arbitration proceeding, resulting in a ruling Prevent now Wynn-Williams promotes his own book from the moment. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the arbitrator’s decision “affirm that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory books should never be published.” He said: “Williams had to take urgent legal action, who deliberately concealed the existence of her book project over eight years after the company was terminated and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to get it on the shelf after waiting for eight years.”
Her publisher Flatiron Books said in a statement that Meta’s actions were “shocked” and noted that “the arbitrator’s order did not mention the claim” and that the book “went through a thorough editing and review process.”
After reading this book, it is easy to see why Meta PR is fussing. Wynn-Williams worked closely with senior executives at the company, traveling around the world with Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, who met with foreign leaders and shaped the policies that defined Facebook. She also offers a lot about what Zuckerberg, Sandberg and current head of global affairs Joel Kaplan did and said in a closed-door manner. Many of them are not beautiful.
Here is her most shocking statement:
Zuckerberg requests “light siege” when visiting Asia
Wynn-Williams often organizes the meetings with various Facebook executives attending along with heads of state and other government officials. One of the more bizarre details Zuckerberg’s requests before heading to Asia for a long three-week long trip is one of the weirder details. According to Wynn-Williams, Zuckerberg asked her to arrange a “peaceful rally” or “riots” during her visit. Facebook’s CEO never explained the request, but Wynn-Williams speculated that he wanted to “test the effectiveness of his product in turning Facebook’s online tools into offline features.”
At first, I thought he was joking. Peaceful rally is not my field of expertise, but frankly-I was never asked to organize riots. Especially the technology CEO. I think his communication is lost, it’s a mix. “Rust” and “peaceful gatherings” are completely different things. Then Debbie’s email said she met Mark, who told her that he wanted a peaceful rally or riot and we needed to come up with some ideas that would allow him to be surrounded or “slightly besieged.”
Zuckerberg refuses to hold a meeting before noon, even the head of state
Zuckerberg apparently has a “strict” policy of not attending any meetings before noon. The policy applies not only to internal meetings with others on Facebook, but also to heads of state. Wynn-Williams tells how Zuckerberg’s “rejection” attends a morning meeting almost derails the planned meeting with the President of Colombia. That same year, she said she was forced to reschedule Zuckerberg’s address at the United Nations to a later time because, according to Wynn-Williams, “the United Nations is not enough for Mark to do activities before noon.”
Facebook has taken “extreme measures” to protect Zuckerberg during his visit to Peru for the APEC meeting. To protect the CEO, apparently hoping to think of his second child soon, the company chose to “build a ‘controlled structure’ at the location of the APEC Convention Center, ventilation, contact with others, and others can be supervised through Facebook.” Wynn-Williams calls it “perfect sperm.”
Zuckerberg’s “desperate” attempts to talk to Xi Jinping
Wynn-Williams spends a lot of time delving into Facebook’s plans to bring social networks Go to China. She also detailed Zuckerberg’s face-to-face attempts with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In 2015, Zuckerberg and Xi Jinping flew to Seattle (attend the “Length” of Zuckerberg in the City). Later, when he released it, it caused a “diplomatic crisis” photo In that handshake, only the back of Xi Jinping is shown.
The following year, Zuckerberg and his team hope to secretly bring the CEO to Peru in front of APEC XI. Facebook arranged for Zuckerberg to speak directly before XI’s appearance, which means the two men will be in the adjacent locker room. According to Wynn-Williams, the goal is to design for Zuckerberg’s “spontaneous encounters” in which he can push his own court to China.
But when Xi arrived, the sides of his “dozens of men” in military uniforms, they created a barrier, so, according to Wynn-Williams, XI didn’t even have to “risk eye contact with Mark.” She said Zuckerberg was “injured” by the demonstration.
Shortly after Facebook started, Wynn-Williams said she was told: “The first proactive initiative Facebook has to build relationships with governments around the world will be organ donation.” The idea was apparently Sandberg, who met a former Harvard friend and transplant surgeon and “proposed to help him source donors.”
But when Wynn-Williams raised logistical and legal issues that often make it difficult for countries to transport organs between countries, she said Sandberg was “outraged”.
“You mean to tell me if my four-year-old is dying and the only thing that can save her is a new kidney, can’t I fly to Mexico and keep it in my handbag?”
Facebook will add it later Organ donation For “Life Events”, users can add their profile.
Sheryl Sandberg and no plane crash
In 2013, an Asian flight from Seoul to San Francisco crashed on a runway, killing two people and injuring more than 100 passengers. Sandberg is promoting her book tilt At that time, I also traveled from Seoul to San Francisco that day. After the crash, she released on Facebook She and several Facebook colleagues were originally going to do that flight, but “was switched to Manchester United so we could use miles for my family’s tickets.”
It is no surprise that Sandberg’s alleged almost missteps have caused multiple headlines, as Wynn-Williams claims Sandberg personally introduced the incident to reporters. Wynn-Williams is confused by the reports. She wrote that Facebook’s chief operating officer “always fly” and “never considered Asians.” In her memories, she and another colleague commented on each other how “weird” Sandberg did it.
Why are Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s Facebook posts getting so much engagement
Wynn-Williams has seriously hinted that there might be some behind-the-scenes manipulation of Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s Facebook posts. She provided no evidence that this happened, but said “someone on Mark’s personal communication team” attending the meeting increased the possibility.
According to Wynn-Williams, “Sheryl’s assistant describes his work as managing Mark and Sheryl’s social media engagement.
Joel Kaplan needs geography class
Some of the most convincing anecdotes Careless person Participate in Kaplan, who joined Facebook’s policy team in 2011, Promotion Earlier this year, he was awarded the Chief Global Affairs Officer. She wrote that Kaplan, the deputy chief of staff at the George W. Bush White House, was “surprised to learn that Taiwan is an island” and “usually, when we start talking about pressing issues in a country in Latin America or Asia, he pauses and asks me to explain where the country is.”
Kaplan slowly rolls up Facebook’s reaction to Myanmar problem
Meta’s failure in Myanmar so far, hate speech and misinformation on Facebook have helped incite Genocidewith evidence. Wynn-Williams, who flew to Myanmar early in her tenure, attempted to sell officials on the company’s connection project, described her futile attempt to get more resources in the country for more resources.
She blamed Kaplan in particular. She said she “started the long process of trying to hire someone for Myanmar in 2015” and found a human rights expert who fitted the bill in May 2016, but Kaplan prevented her from getting hired in February 2017. She later concluded: “These people were not important to him when it comes to Myanmar.”
(Meta broadly tagged Wynn-Williams’ claim about Facebook’s behavior in Myanmar as “old news,” he said in a statement: “The facts here have been publicly recorded since 2018, and we publicly say we know we are acting too slowly for abuse of services in Myanmar.”)
Kaplan’s so-called harassment
Wynn Williams also accuses Kaplan Harassment and other misconduct. After the birth complications left her in a literal coma, she wrote that Kaplan asked her a “regular” call “where are you bleeding” during maternity leave, angry when she didn’t answer. Later, when she returned to work, he gave her an unofficial performance review on the first day, saying she was “quickly responsive.”
Wynn-Williams eventually reported Kaplan’s behavior and investigation, but “soon, it seemed to shift from an investigation of Joel or facts to an investigation of me.” She was fired in her next performance comment.
Meta disputes Wynn Williams’ allegations. “The book is outdated, a mix of previously reported claims about the company and false allegations against our executives,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and the investigation at the time determined that she regretted it was misleading accusations. ”
Updated, March 18, 2025, 1:57 pm PT: Wynn-Williams describes her Facebook tenure as a seven-year term, beginning in 2011. However, according to a Yuan spokesperson, she was fired “in late 2017.” The story has been updated to reflect her nearly 7 years of working on Facebook.
