Sarah Wynn-Williams, once a key figure inside Facebook’s highest ranks, has ignited a firestorm in Silicon Valley with the release of her explosive memoir, Careless People. The book, which paints an unflattering portrait of Facebook’s leadership under Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, offers a scathing critique of the social media giant’s culture and ethical lapses. Despite Meta’s legal pushback, including a temporary U.S. injunction to halt its promotion, the memoir has already surged to No. 4 on Amazon’s bestseller list in the UK.
Wynn-Williams, who served as Facebook’s global public policy director between 2011 and 2017, describes a company ruled by a small, insular group—“there were no adults in the room,” she says. Despite Sheryl Sandberg’s widely held reputation as Facebook’s “grown-up” to Zuckerberg’s visionary youth, Wynn-Williams claims both leaders operated within an “opaque bubble” where rules didn’t apply.
“No Adults in the Room”
Wynn-Williams’ tenure spanned Facebook’s transformation into one of the world’s most powerful companies. In Careless People, she charts her journey from an idealistic diplomat eager to join the tech revolution to a disillusioned insider witnessing what she describes as rampant cronyism, toxic leadership, and unchecked power. “It’s this crazy, tangled web—they were all each other’s bridesmaids, they buy each other’s houses,” she says.
Her depiction of Mark Zuckerberg is particularly sharp. Wynn-Williams portrays him as an emotionally stunted leader, more like a “truculent teen” or “toddler” than a CEO steering a global platform. She claims he frequently refused early-morning meetings with world leaders, preferring not to rise before noon, and bristled at criticism—such as Barack Obama’s rebuke over Facebook’s role in the 2016 election.
Sheryl Sandberg, meanwhile, comes under fire for behavior Wynn-Williams claims contrasts starkly with her public image as the feminist author of Lean In. Wynn-Williams alleges Sandberg engaged in inappropriate workplace relationships and fostered a culture of favoritism. On one occasion, she writes, Sandberg invited her to “come to bed” on a private jet—an invitation Wynn-Williams declined, after which she felt frozen out. Sandberg’s representatives declined to comment.
The Cult of Power
Wynn-Williams draws parallels between Facebook’s leadership and cult-like behavior. She suggests Zuckerberg and Sandberg led a closed, self-reinforcing system of loyalty and power accumulation. “They don’t have friendships like you and I do,” she says. “When people did say something uncomfortable, they were quietly disappeared.”
Her claims extend to the company’s political entanglements. Wynn-Williams says Facebook staff worked closely with Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign—teaching them how to optimize the platform—even while Zuckerberg publicly downplayed Facebook’s role in the election. She alleges Zuckerberg even entertained the idea of his own presidential run.
Zuckerberg’s “white whale,” according to Wynn-Williams, has long been breaking into China’s market. She claims Facebook offered to help the Chinese Communist Party suppress viral content and even demonstrated its facial-recognition tools to Chinese engineers. “They went ahead and installed those virality counters in Hong Kong and Taiwan,” she alleges, describing what she calls Facebook’s willingness to accommodate authoritarian demands.
A History of Neglect—and the Next Frontier
One of the most damning sections of Careless People covers Facebook’s failure in Myanmar. Wynn-Williams echoes the UN’s condemnation of Facebook for enabling the spread of hate speech against the Rohingya, leading to what many consider a genocide. “It’s no surprise that the worst outcome happened in the place that had the most extreme take-up of Facebook,” she says.
Wynn-Williams also shares personal experiences of neglect from Facebook’s leadership. Pregnant in 2014, she says she was sent to the center of the Zika virus outbreak. And in 2016, when her colleague Diego Dzodan was arrested in Brazil, she claims Zuckerberg wanted to write a “heartwarming” post praising Dzodan’s defense of the company—potentially harming his legal defense.
Meta’s Response
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has fiercely contested Wynn-Williams’ claims. It alleges that her book is full of “defamatory and untrue allegations” and insists she was fired for “poor performance and toxic behavior.” The company has sought to block the book’s promotion in the U.S., even though Macmillan, the publisher, proceeded with its UK release.
“There Were No Lines They Wouldn’t Cross”
Wynn-Williams’ account adds to a growing chorus of former insiders raising alarms about the unchecked power of Silicon Valley’s biggest players. She warns that the same mistakes made with social media could soon be repeated in the AI era. “AI is being integrated into weapons,” she notes. “We can’t just blindly wander into this next era. You think social media has turned out with some issues? This is on another level.”
The End of Illusions
Despite the backlash, Wynn-Williams says she has no regrets. She sees Careless People as a wake-up call, a plea for accountability in an industry that too often prioritizes profit over principle.
“I had to ask myself: who was my silence benefiting?” she says. “I wouldn’t put myself through this if it didn’t matter.”
And as she reflects on her own time in the inner sanctum of Facebook, she admits that even now, she remains connected—at least nominally. “I’m still Facebook friends with Mark and Sheryl… and with Joel,” she says with a shrug. “Whatever Facebook friends means.”
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