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Let’s create the “Wynn-Williams Effect”
Sarah Wynn-Williams was a senior executive at Facebook. (You’ll remember, midway through the media storm created by Frances Haugen’s whistleblowing, Facebook changed its name to Meta, no doubt hoping that might change the story as well. Whatever. In this story, I’m going to stick with “Facebook.”) In 2025, Wynn-Williams published a book about her experiences at Facebook. Careless People tells a story about that company that is worse than even I expected. I had had some exposure to what went on. I was helping Haugen when she became the “Facebook Whistleblower,” and spent endless hours reading through the Facebook Files. But Wynn-Williams’ experience was closer to the top. And the story she paints is astonishingly depressing. If you ever need to be convinced that the future of humanity should not rest with the judgment (or integrity) of Silicon Valley executives, this book is a must read.
When Haugen went public, there was a significant fear that Facebook would use the law to punish her. But when she wowed Congress, they wisely chose not to. Or at least, wisely, from the perspective of free speech and democratic values. Society desperately needs whistleblowers, especially among unregulated technology companies radically affecting social and democratic life. Without them, we would have no understanding of either the choices those companies make or the consequences of those…
