Why does Meta want to censor a book?

A couple of years ago, while I was in Amsterdam for academic reasons, I met a man who had worked for several years at Meta. He told me about the frat house atmosphere that permeated the company—both enjoyable and toxic at the same time. If, back in January four years ago, Meta suspended Donald Trump’s account following the attack on Capitol Hill, in 2025, the executives of these tech giants are doing everything they can to get back in the good graces of the new U.S. administration. They are eliminating diversity and inclusion programs, removing fact-checking, and promoting disinformation and potentially dangerous content. However, a memoir published on March 11 in the United States offers a unique perspective on today’s world: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Meta employee. A book that no one had heard of—until the company did everything in its power to limit its distribution, causing the Streisand effect instead.

A Look Inside Meta’s Power Structure

Sarah Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, reaching the position of Director of Public Policy. Her role involved shaping policies with governments, regulators, and institutions to safeguard corporate interests. She worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, as well as Sheryl Sandberg, former COO, and Joel Kaplan, Head of Global Policy. The title of her book is inspired by The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, drawing a parallel between Mark and Sheryl and Tom and Daisy: "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money and their vast carelessness."

Reactionary Guides for Ambitious Men and Women

One of Zuckerberg’s goals, according to the author, was the geographic expansion of Facebook’s users in Asia. He allegedly courted Xi Jinping, even going as far as promising the Chinese president that content moderation would be altered to comply with China’s control policies. His carelessness was evident in other cases as well, such as during the 2017 Myanmar crisis against the Rohingya minority. According to official documents, the U.S.-based platform contributed to inciting ethnic violence, actively promoting hate speech.

Wynn-Williams recalls how her colleagues were annoyed by her newborn’s cries during work calls. Sheryl Sandberg once advised her: "Be smart and hire a Filipino nanny." Sandberg, famous for her manifesto book Lean In, is described as having written "a reactionary guide for ambitious women."

Tech, Gender, and Manipulation

Regarding the relationship between technology and gender, Wynn-Williams reveals that Facebook monitored teenage users’ profiles to sell them beauty products during moments of emotional vulnerability — for example, when they deleted their selfies. Meta attempted to silence Wynn-Williams, even reaching out to journalists to see if they had heard about the book before its publication. Currently, the author has been banned from promoting her book, as Meta won an arbitration case preventing its distribution. Yet, despite this, the book has topped sales charts in the United States.