A former Facebook whistleblower made a silent appearance at the Hay literary festival after the tech giant banned her from speaking about her book.
Sarah Wynn-Williams is the author of a highly critical memoir that makes a series of claims about the company’s internal culture and pursuit of global power.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has obtained a legal order preventing Ms Wynn-Williams from promoting the book Careless People. It warned that her planned appearance at the Hay Festival would breach the conditions. She faces a fine of $50,000 (38,000) every time she speaks disparagingly about the company.
As a result, Ms Wynn-Williams, who was Facebook’s director of global public policy, took to the stage but sat in silence during the hour-long event, which took place in front of a packed crowd.
What had been billed as a conversation with Prof Tim Wu, an academic and author of his own book about Silicon Valley, was restricted to Prof Wu answering all the questions.
Festival organisers pulled copies of the memoir from their bookshop in response to the legal threat.
Helen Bagnall, the festival’s programmes director, told the audience: “Since Sarah Wynn-Williams’s Meta exposé Careless People was published in March 2025, she has faced immense legal pressure. Today, on the advice of lawyers, she is unable to speak but she joins us on stage.”
Ms Wynn-Williams worked for Facebook from 2011 until she was sacked in 2017.
In her book, she alleged...
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