Sarah Wynn-Williams' lawyer reveals he too is barred from promoting her Meta memoir—here's why

After a Meta executive was forbidden from addressing the audience at the Hay event, her attorney revealed he faced similar ban.

The attorney for the Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams said he too was prohibited from promoting her book under a legal binding.

Ravi Naik appeared on BBC Radio show Today on Monday, June 1, and addressed the controversy.

Naik said the terms of an arbitration proceeding meant neither Wynn-Williams nor her “agents” could promote her book Careless People or say anything contemptuous to the company.

This comes after Wynn-Williams, who was an ex-Meta executive was held hostage in silence during an event at Hay on Sunday, May 31.

“Never in my life have I faced a circumstance where my client cannot speak about her truth and I as a lawyer cannot speak on behalf of my client,” said Naik.

On the other hand, Meta has claimed the book, which floated a series of claims about the company’s practices, is false and amounts to defamation.

The memoir in question also contained allegations of sexual harassment that were brushed off by the social media company.

Meta has termed Wynn-Williams’s firing due to “poor performance and toxic behaviour.”

Naik labeled Meta’s stance on Wynn-Williams showing up at Hay was not a “hypothetical threat.”

Meta has stated in writing that they deem Wynn-Williams’s attendance at the Hay panel would be a “breach” of the interim arbitration award, per Naik.

For context, Wynn-Williams was set to appear on stage in a panel discussion with journalist Carole Cadwalladr and Tim Wu, an academician on Sunday, May 31.

Meta’s whistleblower instead didn’t say a word and spent the planned an hour being a hostage in silence in front of the audience.

While introducing the panel to the audience, Cadwalladr took a jab, saying, “I think this might be a Hay first, in which we have an author in a hostage situation.

“Blink once if you can hear us, Sarah, twice if Zuckerberg is an a******.”

Wynn-Williams while appearing before a Senate judiciary subcommittee last year, alleged Meta worked “hand in glove” with China over censorship tools, which the company denied outright.