Facebook Gag Order Silences Former Exec Yet Her Disputed Memoir Remains a Best-Seller

Shortly after publishing her memoir about her time at Facebook, Sarah Wynn-Williams became legally unable to talk about it

A former Facebook executive’s legal battle with the company began after she published her memoir – but that hasn’t stopped book sales from booming.

On Wednesday, March 12, the day after Careless People went on sale, author Sarah Wynn-Williams was hit with a gag order preventing her from promoting the book or making “disparaging” comments about the company, according to a legal filing shared by Meta. 

The memoir recounts Wynn-Williams time at Facebook (now known as Meta), where she worked as the director of global public policy, and includes anecdotes about the company’s current and former leaders, like Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, which the company previously dismissed as “false and defamatory.”

In spite of the gag order, Careless People has spent two weeks on The New York Times’ bestsellers list for combined print and e-book nonfiction. Previously at the very top of the list, as of Friday, March 28, it holds the no. 3 spot.

As the memoir hit bookstores, Meta slammed Wynn-Williams’ account and attacked her character. “This book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,” a company spokesperson told PEOPLE at the time.

“Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment,” the spokesperson continued. “Since then, she has been paid by anti-Facebook activists and this is simply a continuation of that work. Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books.”

An emergency hearing took place on March 12, with arbitrator Nicholas Gowen ruling in Meta’s favor. The company argued that the book was a violation of a non-disparagement agreement that Wynn-Williams signed as an employee. 

Following the legal decision, Wynn-Williams was prohibited from promoting her book, distributing it and speaking about any old or new allegations against the company, according to the legal filing.

After the ruling, the book’s publisher Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan, stood by its author.

“We are appalled by Meta’s tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement,” a spokesperson tells PEOPLE in a statement. “The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. We will absolutely continue to support and promote it.”

When reached for comment by PEOPLE, a legal representative for Wynn-Williams said the author was “unable to respond because of the March 12 order.”

Meanwhile, Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, spoke out in support of the decision on X. “This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published,” he wrote.

Hours before the ruling came down on March 12, Wynn-Williams gave one last interview to Business Insider. When asked about the comments former and Meta employees have made that discount her claims in the book, she waved them off as a “distraction” that only pulled attention away from what she wrote about. 

On Tuesday, March 18, less than a week after the gag order was implemented, the author’s lawyers filed a request to dismiss the order, according to The Verge and CNN. They argued that the order also prevented Wynn-Williams from speaking to Congress and lawmakers in other countries about issues she raised in Careless People.

“Members of the United States Congress, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the Parliament of the European Union have requested to speak with Ms. Wynn-Williams on the issues of public concern raised in her memoir,” her lawyers wrote in the motion, according to The Verge, including “its exploitation of emotionally vulnerable teenage girls, and its conduct in this very arbitration.”

Careless People is on sale now.