Careless People Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

The company Facebook was designed with the underlying strategy to move fast and to break rules, which was demonstrated many times over the years Sarah worked with the company in the policy division to increase their users. The work culture that employees endured offered them no personal lives and was full of nepotism and inappropriate behavior.

The presidential campaign that promoted misinformation and targeted Trump support was a turning point for Facebook in 2016, as they had denied any political engagement previously. Then Facebook further declined in its ethical behavior by falsely testifying that user data was being kept safe in China.

Sarah Wynn-Williams is now known as the highest-ranking whistleblower from Facebook.

About the Author

Sarah Wynn-Williams is a New Zealand-born diplomat, lawyer, and author. Sarah attended the University of Canterbury and Victoria University and holds a BA in political science and international relations, as well as a Master of Laws. Before working for Facebook as the Director of Global Public Policy between the years 2011 and 2017, Sarah worked as a policy adviser in New Zealand and was the Chief Negotiator for the UN on biosafety liability. In 2017, Sarah left Facebook claiming she was fired for reporting sexual harassment. Sarah is now known for blowing the whistle on Facebook and sharing its inner narrative.

Topics

Biography & Memoir

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Key Insights

In “Careless People”, Sarah Wynn-Williams gives her audience an inside look at the dark side of the Metaverse.

Sarah became known as Facebook’s whistleblower when she exposed details of her company’s cooperation with China’s Communist Party, which led to an explosion of exposed secrets.

“Careless People” explores the real-life consequences of Facebook's greedy, power-hungry decisions on employees, communities, and democracy. More than just a tale of one instance, “Careless People” reads as a cautionary tale of corporate power and ignorance amidst decision-making and problem-solving.

Key Points

The Beginning Of Sarah’s Role With Facebook

Like many others, Sarah-Wynn Williams saw the possibility and opportunity at Facebook during its humble beginnings.

Sarah had worked as a policy expert with The United Nations, so she was well aware that in order for Facebook to grow into the titan it wanted to become, it would need to rely on someone with international policy expertise to facilitate its global expansion. This is where Sarah saw herself becoming an integral part of Facebook’s rise to success.

Sarah went on a mission to network with Facebook’s policy team, but she found that the faces behind Facebook weren’t as easily found on its easy-to-use search engine.

At last, she was able to reach out to policy team member, Marne Levine, in 2011. During their correspondence, Sarah learned that there had been no previous discussions about hiring someone to specifically negotiate and research policies with global governments. Sarah responded with the benefits of having someone with her expertise on their team and warned about the interference of growth into new markets if they didn’t hire someone of her caliber. This detail caught Marne’s attention.

It only took a week for Marne to call Sarah back when Sarah’s forecast that Facebook would cause a commotion around the globe came true during the Arab Spring. During that call, Marne pressed the idea that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook, claim responsibility for the protests taking place. With Sarah’s knowledge of policy, she understood that if Zuckerberg did claim responsibility, it would impact Facebook’s acceptance into China. Even though Sarah’s expertise backed her point, Marne ignored her concern as their priority was Western media.

After months of no contact between Sarah and Marne, an earthquake in New Zealand was shown in real-time all over Facebook feeds, drawing Sarah to reach out one more time. This time Sarah took a different approach, pulling at heartstrings and telling Marne how Facebook actually helped her get word on her sister during the earthquake.

Marne finally extended an offer to Sarah for a role on the company’s policy team in Washington D.C. on July 5, 2011.

Too Many Crises, Not Enough Strategy

Sarah quickly was thrown into the rough reality of working at Facebook. Zuckerberg had made it clear, he was not interested in the political world, but to Sarah, Facebook was a political tool.

This wasn’t the only thing that didn’t make sense to Sarah. The offices were in poor shape and consisted of concrete, bare pipes, and fake graffiti, even though there was plenty of money...