Meta Whistleblower Silent During Panel at Hay Festival
Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams remained silent throughout an hour-long panel discussion about her revealing book on the social media giant due to ongoing legal action from her former employer, Meta.
New Zealand-born Wynn-Williams was introduced at the Hay Festival on Sunday as "an author in a hostage situation."
Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr explained that Meta has threatened further legal action if Wynn-Williams attempts to promote her book, Careless People.
Meta has denied allegations of attempting to "silence" Wynn-Williams or restrict her freedom of speech, stating that an interim order prohibits her from promoting the book.
"Blink once if you can hear us Sarah, blink twice if Mark Zuckerberg is an asshole,"said Cadwalladr, who appeared alongside Wynn-Williams and academic Tim Wu at the event in Hay-on-Wye, Powys.
Cadwalladr read a portion of a letter from Wynn-Williams' lawyer outlining her legal situation.
"Meta obtained a temporary order preventing Ms Wynn-Williams from promoting her book or speaking about certain topics regardless of whether what she says is true,"the letter stated.
Wynn-Williams Among Highest-Level Meta Whistleblowers
Wynn-Williams is one of the most senior former Meta executives to publicly criticize Mark Zuckerberg. Cadwalladr noted that Zuckerberg is portrayed in the book as somewhat of a "bit of a dweeb."
Tim Wu characterized the lawsuit as a "machine reaction, not a personal vendetta."
Wu accused Meta of "maximising the punishment" to serve as a warning to other potential whistleblowers within the company.
"This is performative,"said Cadwalladr.
Wu, a Columbia professor who has worked with the Obama and Biden administrations, described the legal action as "censorship."
"This is the age of private censorship, this is the assertion of power, a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our society are not confined to kings, emperors, governments... but to a class of companies that have assumed the sort of sovereign effect and seek to assert their power the same way that despotic nations do."
Meta Responds to Accusations
Meta responded by stating that the claims of restricting Wynn-Williams' freedom of speech or attempting to silence her are inaccurate.
"There is a binding interim arbitration award against Ms Wynn-Williams which she agreed to during her time at Meta and which explicitly prohibits her from promoting her book,"the company said.
"This is an arbitrator's order, not Meta deciding to silence anyone. We are entitled to ask that the terms of that order be observed."
