![\"Careless](\"https:\/\/www.davidmeermanscott.com\/hs-fs\/hubfs\/Careless%20People%20book%20cover.jpg?width=450&height=335&name=Careless%20People%20book%20cover.jpg\")
Facebook\u2019s artificial intelligence algorithm isn\u2019t just an innocent piece of code\u2014it\u2019s a carefully tuned, profit-driven machine that thrives on polarization and division.<\/p>\n
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In my years of observing how digital marketing and online engagement have evolved, I\u2019ve repeatedly called Facebook\u2019s AI \u201cone of the most destructive technologies ever invented\u201d.<\/p>\n
Now, in Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism<\/em><\/a>, former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams delivers an insider\u2019s account of how the company\u2019s leadership allowed this algorithmic monster to spiral out of control. She exposes the deep rot within Facebook\u2019s corporate culture\u2014where power and influence were hoarded while accountability was discarded like yesterday\u2019s newsfeed.<\/p>\n An instant number one New York Times<\/em> bestseller<\/a> upon publication last week, Facebook\u2019s parent company Meta is trying to stop further distribution, which is ironic considering Facebook\u2019s insistence that the platform stands for \u201cfree speech\u201d (whatever the hell that means in today\u2019s world).<\/p>\n I purchased the hardcover on the day it came out and then also bought the audiobook (read by the author) so I could listen in my car too.<\/p>\n A former New Zealand diplomat, Wynn-Williams writes of her Facebook role: \u201cI\u2019m the person Facebook flies in to deal with governments around the world.\u201d She often traveled with Facebook (now Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg or COO Sheryl Sandberg, meeting with heads of state.<\/p>\n This book isn\u2019t just a critique of a company. It\u2019s a warning about what happens when technology is driven by profit without ethics. And it\u2019s a message that aligns with what I\u2014and many others\u2014have been saying for years: Facebook isn\u2019t just reflecting division in society; it\u2019s creating polarization.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all lived with the aftermath of the Facebook algorithm: election interference, public health misinformation, and a society more polarized than ever. Facebook had chances to course-correct, and it chose not to.<\/p>\n She details how executives understood the dangers of the AI spiral but chose to look the other way. The book lays bare the truth: Facebook doesn\u2019t just enable misinformation; it profits from it.<\/p>\n Wynn-Williams writes that company executives understand this, yet ignore the problem or even outright lies about it because polarization is their business model. Their AI-driven outrage machine makes them billions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a big difference between what people at Facebook say and what they do,\u201d she writes. For example, despite insisting the use of Facebook is safe for young people, most Facebook employees do not allow their own children to use mobile phones, which shows how much they understand the damage these tools do to young people.<\/p>\n Like Wynn-Williams, when I first started using Facebook right after it became available to people other than students, I was a cheerleader for the platform<\/a>. It felt like an innocent new way for people to communicate.<\/p>\n Things quickly changed when Facebook executives realized AI could be tweaked to help the company make more money.<\/p>\n As I\u2019ve written for years<\/a>, Facebook\u2019s algorithm is a feedback loop of engagement. Click on one sensational headline\u2014just once\u2014and the system takes note. Click on a second, and you\u2019ve just told the algorithm, \u201cmore of this, please\u201d. Before you know it, your feed is flooded with similar content, reinforcing whatever biases or emotions that initial click tapped into.<\/p>\n Misinformation? It spreads because it\u2019s engaging. Conspiracy theories? They thrive because they spark emotional reactions. Outrage? It\u2019s the fuel that keeps users scrolling, commenting, and sharing. The more divisive the content, the longer people stay online, and the more ads Facebook can serve. It\u2019s not an accident\u2014it\u2019s the business model.<\/p>\n Wynn-Williams\u2019 revelations about Facebook\u2019s leadership paint a damning picture of a company in moral freefall. Decisions weren\u2019t made with users in mind, but with shareholders and growth metrics as the sole priorities.<\/p>\n I loved the parts of the book where Wynn-Williams dishes on the private lives of Facebook executives. For example, she says Sheryl Sandberg doesn\u2019t follow the ideas in her bestselling book \u201cLean In\u201d where Sandberg says women can combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment. Wynn-Williams says that’s not how Sandberg behaved. Sandberg didn\u2019t care about people\u2019s personal lives. For example, Wynn-Williams describes being in labor in the delivery room, feet in stirrups, with her computer in hand, writing talking points for Sandberg for an upcoming meeting.<\/p>\n One of the most shocking aspects of Careless People<\/em> is how the company\u2019s leadership consistently ignored warnings from their own teams. Engineers, policy experts, and even some executives raised alarms about the dangers of their algorithm amplifying false information, fueling radicalization, and deepening political divides. But as Wynn-Williams explains, those concerns were brushed aside. Growth was king. Profits were the priority. Ethics were inconvenient.<\/p>\n On January 7, the day after Donald Trump\u2019s election to his second term was certified and a few weeks before he would attend the inauguration, Mark Zuckerberg recorded a video about free speech<\/a> and published it on on Facebook. \u201cIt’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’re replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on reducing mistakes. Looking forward to this next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n Zuckerberg doesn\u2019t seem to believe in these ideas because once Meta executives learned of the the Careless People<\/span> impending publication, they tried to stop it, filing an emergency request for a hearing<\/a> before an arbitrator.<\/p>\n Meta spokesperson Andy Stone writes<\/a>: \u201cThis ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams\u2019 false and defamatory book should never have been published. This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry\u2019s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n I asked my buddy Mitch Jackson, an award-winning lawyer and the voice behind Uncensored Objection<\/em><\/a> on Substack his thoughts. \u201cAs a lawyer and citizen, I believe the First Amendment is so much more than just ink on parchment\u2014it\u2019s the backbone of our democracy, protecting our right to speak truth to power, challenge authority, and push for change,\u201d Mitch told me. \u201cIts value is immeasurable, and every attempt to erode it\u2014whether through government overreach or corporate gag orders\u2014is an attack on the very freedoms that define us.\u201d<\/p>\n In Careless People<\/em>, Sarah Wynn-Williams issues a wake-up call. But the question remains: Is Facebook listening?<\/p>\n One thing is clear\u2014we should be.<\/span><\/p>\nThe AI spiral: How Facebook profits from division<\/h2>\n
Careless People: The rot at Facebook\u2019s core<\/h2>\n
Meta\u2019s version of freedom of speech<\/h2>\n
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