Meta legal action silences Facebook whistleblower at Hay Festival
Sarah Wynn-Williams sat silent on stage at Hay Festival after lawyers warned she could face sanctions from Meta in connection with the company's legal action over her book. She appeared on a panel with journalist Carol Cadwalladr and law professor Tim Wu but did not speak while the pair outlined the legal threats. The episode highlights how legal pressure from a major tech company can inhibit whistleblowers and constrain public accountability about alleged internal practices.
Yesterday I witnessed something extraordinary: the author Sarah Wynn-Williams sitting silent on a stage at @hayfestival.bsky.social. And she got a standing ovation. I hope the attempt to censor her backfires magnificently. I have just ordered her book. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Faversham Sarah25I was listening to her lawyer talking about that on the Today programme this morning. Utterly absurd! Free speech!
Mojumi23It is nauseating that American tech barons have a reach that now extends to muzzling free speech in our country. This isn’t just one broligarch - this is the world America has let happen.
Andy Scripture15I didn't know about it but thanks to the Streisand effect, I shall be getting it
PWCoghlan13This "experiment" alone should have been enough to drive every user off the Facebook platform for good But here we are; global censorship by a purveyor of misinformation & racist hate www.bbc.co.uk/news/technol...
annekin1.bsky.social11I've read her book. It's very enlightening
Lizzy Price10“This is a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our time are not confined to kings, emperors, governments … but to a class of companies that have assumed the sovereign affect, and seek to assert their power the same way that some of those despotic nation states do.”
Franki8Off the back of this post then the article you linked, I bought it too. youtu.be/wWhtcU4-xAM
Alison7Well...on the back of this news I have ordered the book, & I suspect I am not the only one, so well done Meta 😀
Luna2isinthegym7It's a proper Streisand moment - way more publicity than if they'd shut up and left her alone. It's everywhere and Asda and Sainsburys had it in HB a few months ago - they sell what's getting talked about. Epic backfire to zuck.
Mack6Real men can handle strong women.
wweiss53.bsky.social5I read Careless People and it confirms what you might guess about oligarchs and their sycophantic entourage.
Stevie Rae Williams🍷🐈⬛4I like Adam Rutherford’s take, he said it was like a book form of the “Are We The Baddies?” Meme😂
anyonemouse.bsky.social4Streisand effect lives! Just bought Sarah's book
Mike Hinford4I think this will backfire for Meta. I've just downloaded the audio book.
Philip Machanick 🇿🇦4Streisand effect. Saying that a lot lately.
Tim4I honestly don't understand why people still chose to use that toxic site?
˗ˏˋ Pete Trainor ˎˊ3The book is peaking at number 1 in pretty much all the listed categories on sites like Amazon. This is not unusual for Meta-mafia. They’ll be banking on her legal costs not being covered by the amount she makes from book sales… it’s total erosion of freedom of expression.
@dcEmerald 🍀3@carolecadwalla.bsky.social said: “I think we can say that Facebook is triggered.”
It isn't just me.3There's excellent content on Facebook in Maria Ressa's book 'How to stand up to a dictator'. It includes narrative around efforts to raise concerns, improve safeguards, addressing algorithms and risks to democracy. Well worth a read.
rob3Her enforced silence speaks volumes. More people need to find the courage to stand up to such tyranny.
Robin K2A great bit of publicity for her, well done.
Karina Coghlin2I've just borrowed the e-book from my library, thank you for highlighting it.
Anne Billson2Just bought and downloaded the ebook!
hawksland.bsky.social2Shocking tactics used by Meta simply because the company has billions
SimonB522It’s a staggering, vital read 👍
“This is censorship... This is a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our time are not confined to kings, emperors, governments … but to a class of companies that have assumed the sovereign affect, and seek to assert their power the same way that some of those despotic nation states do.”
Doug HS 😶🌫️27While this is terrible legal censorship, it's quite powerful she sat there in silence. All it takes is a quick web search and everyone in that room knows why she's been censored by Meta
Russ17I’ve read her book. Read her book.
Haider Bahrani7Well I guess it doesn't count as marketing for her book but Meta have certainly helped.
barryonions.bsky.social5Buy her book, boycott Meta!
donaldé3Overheard someone in Waterstones looking at a book say ot her partner to take a picture and order it from Amazon. Am pleased to say I interjected to point out how Amazon ruins everything and pays no tax and that she should buy from the shop if she wanted to see the shop remain. She bought the book.
stanmiguel.bsky.social3Let's Streisand effect the fuck out of this! Never knew who she was until this
Matthew Bland2Well, I, for one, have bought her book. Google Play Store: play.google.com/store/books/...
Nina Cooper2Agreed. And one fightback action anyone can take is, of course, to buy and read the book. It’s an excellent and illuminating read.
Macca2Not enough information in the article about the actual court/legal process in UK which has endorsed this
Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Luxe Chronicles10The book is an absolute must read. It’s shocking in some places and will make your blood run cold in others. Anyone who hasn’t read it, should. And share it with everyone you know. You’ll never look at META, its platforms, its founder or its enablers the same way again.
Andrew Dilley4It's hard to find new ways to find Zuck more pathetic, but he keeps on finding them.
iainpalmer.bsky.social2Totally unrelated, but I've just bought a new book...
As a rule, I generally dislike books by “tech whistleblowers”, but “Careless People” is different. There is a reason Meta want to silence its author Sarah Wynn-Williams, because her book exposes the callous, venal, banal incompetence, malice & greed that is at the heart of Meta and its owners.
Aidan O’Brien8Most of my bookshelf is filled with books on topics like tech policy/internet governance, a genre I am increasingly referring to as “dystopian non fiction”. Careless People is a book that required me to stop and take a medically advisable stroll for the sake of my blood pressure, repeatedly.
Genesis 🇮🇪 🇳🇿2I read this very recently and it makes me want to leave all Meta products in the dust.
