Meta puts stop on promotion of tell-all book by former employee

Social media company wins emergency arbitration ruling on book, Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Reuters and Guardian staff

Thu 13 Mar 2025 12.22 EDT

Meta on Wednesday won an emergency arbitration ruling to temporarily stop promotion of the tell-all book Careless People by a former employee, according to a copy of the ruling published by the social media company.

‘Careless People’ publisher won’t pull the book Meta is trying to stop

Flatiron Books says it ‘will absolutely continue to support and promote it.’

by Jay PetersUpdated Mar 13, 2025, 12:12 PM PDT

Jay Peters is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Flatiron Books, the publisher of a new book by an ex-Meta staffer alleging misconduct and harassment at the company, says in a statement that a recent arbitration order demanding that the book no longer be published has “no impact” on Macmillan.

The ruling instructs Sarah Wynn-Williams, the author of Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, to stop making “disparaging” remarks against Meta and, where possible, cease promoting or publishing the book.

Meta appears to have been able to bring the case to arbitration because of an agreement Wynn-Williams signed when she left the company in 2017.

“We are appalled by Meta’s tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement,” Flatiron says in the statement, which was also shared with The New York Times. “To be clear, the arbitrator’s order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People. The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. We will absolutely continue to support and promote it.”