Book SummaryCareless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Careless People

In Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams recounts her time as Director of Global Public Policy at Facebook, where she worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg and other executives from 2011-2017. Through a series of vignettes that chronicle her seven years there, she shares her critical perspective on the character and conduct of these leaders.

Wynn-Williams joined Facebook because she believed in its potential to connect people and improve the world. But over time, she came to the conclusion that Zuckerberg and company were reckless, uncaring, and corrupt. They consistently put business and personal interests before responsibility or accountability. And because of this, she says, Facebook became a source of harm in the world. It influenced the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election, enabled political corruption and genocide in Myanmar, and tailored its tech to the authoritarian interests of the Chinese Communist Party.

Wynn-Williams is a former diplomat and lawyer from New Zealand who’s worked for the New Zealand government, the United Nations, and Facebook (now Meta). In this guide, we’ll explore her claims about Facebook’s leadership, the harm they’ve caused, and the lessons we need to learn to shape a better future for Big Tech. In our commentary, we’ll examine her claims and compare them with what others have said about the company and its leaders. We’ll also discuss her testimony to the US Congress and Meta’s response to her speaking up, as well as the state of US-China AI race in 2025.

(Shortform note: In 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta. Throughout this guide, we’ll refer to the company as “Facebook” when discussing its pre-2021 activity, such as when Wynn-Williams worked there. We’ll refer to the company as “Meta” when describing its post-2021 activity.)

Careless People in the Media

After its publication in March 2025, Careless People drew a wide variety of reactions....

Careless People Summary Facebook’s Culture and the Leaders Who Created It

To begin, we’ll characterize how Wynn-Williams experienced Facebook’s workplace culture. Then we’ll cover what she says about three key leaders who created this culture: Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Joel Kaplan.

Facebook’s Culture: Hard Work and Long Hours

Wynn-Williams writes that when she began working at Facebook, the team was small, scrappy, and always pressed for time. When she joined their D.C. office, which handled Facebook’s public policy in the US, she and her colleagues regularly worked until midnight or later, and they often began working again in the early morning. The work was nonstop, and they did all they could to keep up.

The expectation at Facebook, Wynn-Williams says, was that everyone would dedicate themselves 110% to the work. Facebook wanted its employees to believe they weren’t just running a business—they were changing the world. For Wynn-Williams and her colleagues, work was their purpose. And for some, family, hobbies, and life outside work weren’t even in the picture.

To make this intense, mission-driven culture possible, Facebook gave its employees perks, like shuttle rides to work, laundry service, childcare, and unlimited...

Careless People Summary Facebook’s Harmful Impact

In the previous section, we explained how Wynn-Williams characterizes Facebook’s leaders during her time at the company. Next, we’ll explore the key events that she says happened as a result of their recklessness. These include Facebook’s role in genocide and political instability in Myanmar, its role in the 2016 US presidential election, and its collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party.

Facebook Enabled Violence in Myanmar

Wynn-Williams writes that in the mid-2010s, Facebook neglected to address hateful political rhetoric spreading on the platform in Myanmar. She says that this negligence led directly to real-world consequences: a violent campaign against the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority that the UN later called genocide. For years, Wynn-Williams and others repeatedly warned key decision-makers, but these leaders chose not to act—not because they didn’t know, but because they didn’t care.

(Shortform note: In December 2021, Rohingya refugees filed a $150 billion lawsuit against Meta in both US and UK courts, alleging the...

Careless People Summary Averting a More Reckless Future

So far, we’ve laid out Wynn-Williams’ allegations that Facebook leaders were reckless, unaccountable, and ethically compromised in character and conduct; and that they caused major harm in the world. We’ll look next to her main takeaway.

Put simply, Wynn-Williams argues that Facebook’s recklessness continues to go unchecked—that Zuckerberg and company haven’t changed at all. She adds that this could be disastrous for the AI race between the US and China, in which both countries want to develop superior AI for military and economic use.

(Shortform note: Experts explain that the US-China AI race will be decided not by the best models, but by speed of adoption. AI will see application in the military, government, and private sectors, and the nation that’s first to spread and scale AI through these areas will likely come out on top.)

In 2024, Facebook’s leadership chose to open-source their AI models, or make them publicly available to license and build upon. In doing this, Wynn-Williams says, they’ve enabled Chinese tech firms (like DeepSeek) to compete with formerly dominant Western AI...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on Leadership and Responsibility

Wynn-Williams raises questions about leadership accountability and ethical responsibility in the tech industry. This exercise will help you explore these themes and consider their broader implications.

Think of a tech product or service you use regularly. What potential negative consequences might arise from its misuse or lack of oversight?