Exclusive: The whistleblower silenced by Facebook hits back
6/30/202631 min
How do you interview someone who’s been gagged? That’s the task we set ourselves on today’s episode. Sarah Wynn-Williams - a former Facebook executive turned whistleblower author - is not allowed to talk about Facebook, or her book, Careless People. She’s not allowed to.
She’s not even allowed to discuss the lawsuit that’s been slapped on her. Or how she’s finally responded with one of her own.
This is her story - told by another woman who knows how silence can be used to control and intimidate - Amy Wallace.
A spokesperson for Meta has said, "This former employee is trying to use the legal process to sell books, which an arbitrator already ruled broke the agreement she signed with the company when she accepted a large severance payment years ago. Her book is divorced from reality, disparaging and riddled with false claims."
The full arbitration can be read here:
https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arbitration-Interim-Award.pdf
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:01
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Emily Maitlis· Host0:25
I'm gonna ask you to leave. I'm going to ask you to leave the studio, because you cannot be present for the conversation that we now need to have.
Sarah Wyn Williams· Guest0:35
Okay.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:36
I've never had to ask anyone to leave the studio before.
Amy Wallace· Guest0:52
So we are now in this bizarre situation where we have an empty chair speaking for Sarah, because she is not allowed to talk about the book. She is not allowed to do interviews about the book. She is not allowed to hold the book. She is not allowed to be in an airport where the book is on sale. She is not allowed to be anywhere near the bookstore on her street, where there happens to be her book for sale.
Emily Maitlis· Host1:19
How can that make sense to say to somebody, "You can't go to an airport where your book might be sold?"
Amy Wallace· Guest1:24
Absurd is one way of putting it. You know, it, it, it's shameful. So what is this?